I 


//. 


^W  PRINCETON,  N.  J.  *# 


Presented    by  \i~o\  .  J  OV^r  .o^\\3  0<2AA  vcSc~ 

US  10  7 

,3 L7 

V.2 


Division 
Section 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2010  with  funding  from 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


http://www.archive.org/details/jordanvalleype02libb 


tm  mm 


The  Jordan  Valley  and 
Petra 


William   Libbey,   Sc.D. 

Professor  of  Physical  Geography,  Princeton  University 
and 

Franklin  E.  Hoskins,  D.D. 

Syria  Mission,  Beirut,  Syria 


With  159  Illustrations 


Two  Volumes 
II 


G.  P.   Putnam's  Sons 

New  York  and  London 
Zbe  IRnickerbocfcer  press 

J9°5 


COPYKIGHT,  1905 
liY 

WILLIAM    LIBBEY 


Ube  Ifcnfcfectbocfeer  ipress,  IRcw  JPorfe 


CONTENTS 


I. — Kerak  to  Shobek 
II. — Shobek  to  Petra 
III. — Edom  and  Petra   . 
IV. — Into  Petra 
V. — Petra    .... 
VI. — Petra  in  Detail    . 
VII. — Theatre — Fairy  Dell  and  High  Place 
VIII. — The  Second  High  Place  at  Petra 

IX.— The  Deir 

X. — Mount  Hor  ...... 

XI. — Petra  to  the  Dead  Sea 
XII.— The  Dead  Sea        .... 


i 
33 

57 
69 

117 

144 

160 

191 

208 

231 
262 
280 


APPENDICES 

I. — Travelling  Time 
II. — Barometric  Elevations 
III. — Travellers  to  Petra     . 
IV. — The  Hedjaz  Railroad    . 
V. — The  Mosaic  Map  of  Madeba 
VI. — Scriptural  References 
VII. — Fossils  Collected 
Index         ..... 


• 

323 

324 

325 

325 

328 

3Si 

353 

377 

LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


Vestibule  of  House  at  Kerak        .         Frontispiece 

Kerak  Valley  from  the  South       ....  3 

Ahsa  Canyon — Flint  Mountain  9 

Ahsa  Canyon — Flint  Bed  of  Tributary  Stream  .  13 

Tafileh     ......•••  17 

Tafileh — Prayer    Platform — Fountain — After- 
noon Tea   .         .         .         .         .         •         •         .21 

Shobek  from  the  East    ......  27 

Shobek  Valley  from  the  Citadel  ....  31 

Roman  Road     ........  39 

Camp  at  the  Entrance  to  the  Sik           ...  45 
Entrance  to  the  Sik — -Beginning  of  the  Sand- 
stone          ........  49 

Entrance  to  the  Sik — First  Rock  Carvings         .  53 

Entrance  to  the  Sik — Outer  End           ...  57 

Gorge  of  Sik    ........  71 

Gorge  of  Sik     ........  73 

First  View  of  the  Treasury  from  the  Gorge       .  77 
Treasury — View    from    the    Entrance    of    the 

Gorge         ........  79 

Treasury  from  the  Northern  Side         ...  83 
Entrance    of  the    Sik — From    Interior    of    the 

Treasury  ...                  ....  85 

Gorge  of  the  Sik — Beyond  the  Treasury     .         .  89 


VI 


List  of  Illustrations 


Inner  Entrance  of  the  Sik    .... 

Petra  Valley — The  Last  of  the  Water 

Petra  Valley — General  View  to  the  South 

Petra — Western  Wall  of  Valley 

Petra — Site  of  Ancient  City 

Petra — General  View  of  the  Valley  to  the  East 

Petra — Tombs  on  the  Wall  of  the  Eastern  Side 

of  the  Valley  ...... 

Petra — Citadel  Rock      ..... 

Petra — Temple  on  Eastern  Wall 

Petra — Remains  of  Arch  of  Triumph    . 

Petra — Temple  near  Citadel  Rock 

Petra — The  Unfinished  Tomb 

Petra — The  Columbarium        .... 

Petra — Corinthian  Tomb  and  Temple   . 

Petra — Sheikh  and  Prisoner 

Petra — The  Amphitheatre     .... 

Petra — Fairy  Dell,  on  the  Road  to  the  First 

High  Place,  near  the  Treasury 
Petra — On  the  Road  to  the  High  Place;  Quarry 

and  Pyramids    ...... 

Petra — Court  of  High  Place 
Petra — Altar  of  High  Place 
Petra — View  of  Site  of  City  from  Altar  of  High 

Place  ....... 

Petra — Descent  from  High  Place 

Petra — Nabathean  Inscription 

Petra — Rainbow  Temple.     Entrance  to  Western 

or  Exit  Gorge  ...... 

Petra — Balustrade  on  Path  to  the  New  High 

Place  ..... 


List  of  Illustrations 


Vll 


Petra — The  New  High  Place 

Petra — Altar  in  New  High  Place 

Petra — Looking  East  from  Citadel  Rock  ove 

New  High  Place       ..... 

Petra — Western  Gorge  from  New  High  Place 
Petra — A  Lateral  Valley  from  the  South 
Petra — Road  to  the  Deir,  Looking  West     . 
Petra — Road  to  the  Deir;  Stairway    . 
Petra — Road  to  the  Deir       .... 

Petra — Road  to  the  Deir       .... 

Petra — The  Deir    ...... 

Petra — Roman  Hand-mill       .... 

Petra — -Road  to  Mount  Hor.    Southern  Valley 
Petra— Mount  Hor  ..... 

Petra — Mount  Hor.    Aaron's  Tomb 
Petra — View  from  Mount  Hor,  Looking  North 
Petra — View  from  Mount  Hor,  Looking  East 
Petra — View  from  Mount  Hor,  Looking  South 

west  ........ 

Petra — View  from  Mount  Hor,  Looking  West 

Shobek  from  the  South  . 

Tafileh  from  the  South 

Bir  Mlih  on  the  Road  from  Tafileh  to  the  Ghor 

Tafileh  Plateau  from  the  Ghor    . 

Camp  in  the  Ghor    .... 

Native  House-Tent 

Inhabitants  of  the  Ghor 

Apples  of  Sodom      .... 

Road    across    Salt    Morass — Southern    End    of 

Dead  Sea  ..... 
Western  Side  of  Salt  Morass 


PAGE 
197 

20I 

203 
205 
209 
213 

21S 
219 

221 
225 
229 

233 
237 
24I 

245 
249 

253 
257 
265 
269 

275 
28l 
283 
287 
289 
293 

295 
299 


viii  List  of  Illustrations 


PAGE 


Jebel  Usdum  from  the  South          .                  .         .  301 

Dead  Sea  Beach  from  Jebel  Usdum       .         .         .  305 

Calcareous  Sandstone,  back  of  Jebel  Usdum  .  307 
Mountains    West    of    Northern    End    of   Jebel 

Usdum 3IT 

Northern  End  of  Jebel  Usdum  ....  313 
Dead    Sea    from    the    Northern    End    of   Jebel 

Usdum 3X7 

Northern  End  of  Dead  Sea,  Varying  Beach 

Levels   ........  321 

The   Mosaic  Map  of  Madeba          .         .         .         .  331 

Fossils  (Plates  A,  B,  and  C) 371 

PLATES 

Bird's-Eye  View  of  Location  of  Petra      .         .  48 

Clay  Water  Pipe,  Petra 87 

Plan  of  Petra 97 


The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 


THE  JORDAN  VALLEY 
AND  PETRA 


CHAPTER  I 

KERAK  TO  SHOBEK 

THE  journey  from  Kerak  to  Petra  is  sometimes 
made  in  three  long  and  hard  days.  Those 
who  must  rush  through  in  this  fashion  lose 
much  that  is  worth  seeing,  and  severely  test  the 
strength  and  endurance  of  men  and  animals.  So 
here  again  we  departed  from  the  usual  plan,  and 
transformed  a  most  difficult  stage  of  the  journey 
into  a  delightful  ride.  We  broke  the  journey  from 
Kerak  to  Tafileh  into  two  stages,  and  spent  a 
night  again  in  the  wilderness.  We  did  the  same 
between  Tafileh  and  Shobek,  and  would  most 
heartily  recommend  this  plan  to  all  who  may  fol- 
low us  in  the  short  winter  days.  It  involves  only 
the  carrying  of  extra  barley  for  the  animals  and 
charcoal  for  cooking  purposes.  There  is  an  abund- 
ance   of    water    and    good    camping-places.      Our 


2  The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

riding  time  between  Kerak  and  Tafileh  was  five 
and  a  half  hours  one  day,  and  four  and  a  half  the 
next,  or  ten  hours  in  all.  But  our  muleteers  re- 
quired seven  and  six  hours,  or  thirteen  hours  in 
all,  which  would  have  been  an  impossibility  for  any 
winter  day,  and  cruelty  to  men  and  animals  in  the 
heat  and  drought  of  summer.  From  Tafileh  to 
Ain  el  Gelaidat,  we  took  four  hours,  and  on  to 
Shobek  in  five  hours,  but  our  muleteers  required 
five  and  six  and  a  half  hours  respectively,  or  nearly 
twelve  hours  in  all.  To  journey  thirteen  hours  one 
day,  with  muleteers  and  camping  outfit,  and  twelve 
the  next,  not  mentioning  the  time  and  labor  required 
to  take  down  and  set  up  the  tents,  is  not  pleasure, 
but  unnecessary  hardship  and  even  cruelty.  The 
stage  from  Shobek  to  the  Sik,  or  entrance  to  Petra, 
can  be  made  easily  by  the  muleteers  in  six  and  a 
half  hours,  and  therefore  with  comfort.  A  large 
part  of  the  difficulties  and  dangers  encountered  by 
travellers  in  such  regions  arises  from  their  attempt- 
ing to  do  too  much,  or  to  do  the  impossible. 

Mules  and  muleteers  can  do  very  hard  work,  and 
stand  much  hardship,  if  only  they  can  have  food 
and  rest  and  be  treated  fairly.  But  when  driven 
beyond  their  strength,  the  men  lose  their  tempers, 
the  mules  get  sore  backs,  and  if  cold  and  rainy 
weather  or  the  pangs  of  thirst  are  added,  camp  life 
loses  all  its  charms.  The  pleasures  of  a  whole  jour- 
ney may  be  dissipated  by  the  attempt  to  save  or 
gain  a  day  at  the  wrong  place.  And  those  who 
elect,  as  we  did,  to  take  muleteers  into  a  country 


Kerak  to  Shobek  5 

where  only  camels  are  supposed  to  live,  must  make 
due  allowance,  in  time  and  the  weight  of  the  loads. 
When  they  do  this,  they  can  expect  to  enjoy  travelling 
in  this  extremely  barren  region.  Otherwise  they  had 
better  remain  in  the  beaten  tracks  west  of  the  Jordan. 

Among  the  remarkable  features  of  the  road 
between  Kerak  and  Petra  is  the  matter  of  the  eleva- 
tions and  depressions.  Our  tents  in  Kerak  were  at 
an  elevation  of  three  thousand  four  hundred  feet, 
and  in  Petra  itself  about  three  thousand  feet,  but 
we  clipped  once  to  seventeen  hundred  and  fifty  feet, 
and  climbed  twice  to  five  thousand  six  hundred  and 
five  thousand  eight  hundred  feet,  with  half  a  dozen 
smaller  variations.  A  glance  at  the  diagram,  Vol. 
I.,  p.  35,  will  explain  better  than  many  words  can 
our  experiences  along  this  line. 

Here  aeain  we  noticed  a  ofreat  increase  in  the 
number  and  thickness  of  the  layers  of  flint.  Portions 
of  the  side  walls  of  these  canyons  exposed  surfaces 
where  there  was  a  sheer  precipice  of  from  eight 
hundred  to  a  thousand  feet,  much  of  which  was 
solid  flint.  The  layers  varied  from  one  to  fifty  feet 
in  thickness,  and  in  one  instance  a  single  layer 
exceeded  a  hundred  feet  in  thickness.  All  of  the 
darker  portion  of  the  rock  shown  in  the  photograph 
on  page  9  is  composed  of  flint.  This  mass  is  to 
be  found  almost  in  the  bottom  of  the  canyon  of 
the  Ahsa,  and  on  its  northern  side.  We  named  it 
Flint  Mountain. 

In  portions  of  the  bottom  of  the  gorge,  where 
lateral  or  tributary  streams  enter,   we  found  that 


6  The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

where  the  stream  had  reached  a  flint  layer  that  it 
apparently  could  not  manage,  it  flowed  over  this 
polished  bed,  leaving  a  surface  like  glass,  and  which 
glistened  like  the  reflecting  surface  of  water,  when 
seen  from  a  distance.  When  the  stream  reached 
the  edge  of  the  stratum  bordering  on  the  main  val- 
ley, it  dropped  over  the  solid  cliff,  and  began  the 
process  of  undermining.  The  underlying  limestone 
was  more  easily  acted  upon,  and  when  a  sufficient 
quantity  had  been  removed,  the  weight  of  the 
stratum  of  flint  was  all  that  was  needed  to  break 
the  layer  down  of  itself.  Great  quantities  of  such 
boulders  were  found  near  the  mouth  of  such  trib- 
utary streams,  and  in  this  slow  manner  the  waters 
were  eroding  their  bed  back  into  the  main  mass  of 
the  rock. 

Everywhere  traces  could  be  found  of  the  exist- 
ence of  intense  heat  sometime  in  the  past,  as  shown 
in  the  fusion  of  the  rocks,  but  there  were  no  signs 
of  lava. 

We  left  Kerak  at  8  a.m.,  by  passing  through  the 
breach  in  the  southern  wall,  just  west  of  the  great 
castle,  and  in  twenty  minutes  had  dropped  into  the 
narrow  valley.  We  paused  several  times  to  enjoy 
the  wonderful  view  of  the  castle  and  city  wall  be- 
hind us  (see  photograph,  Kerak  Seen  from  South). 
The  ramp  of  the  castle  at  the  point  where  the  hill 
hides  it  was  fully  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  high, 
which,  with  more  than  one  hundred  feet  of  the 
tower,  makes  an  unbroken  wall  of  two  hundred 
and  fifty  feet  still  standing. 


Kerak  to  Shobek  7 

During  the  ride  of  four  hours,  we  reckoned  that 
we  had  seen  at  least  thirty  ruins  of  towns  and  vil- 
lages, and  many  signs  of  the  industry  of  former 
generations.  At  n  a.m.,  we  had  climbed  again  to 
forty-three  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  and  stood  on 
the  brink  of  the  Wady  el  Hessi  or  el  Ahsa.  Then 
within  two  hours  we  had  dropped  twenty-seven 
hundred  feet,  and  found  the  descent  rather  harder 
for  the  animals  than  the  descent  to  the  Arnon. 
Half-way  down  we  passed  a  rather  extensive  ruin 
called  Abdy,  which  from  its  location  might  have 
been  a  small  fort  or  guard-house.  The  road  is 
easily  found  by  following  the  telegraph  poles. 

Wady  el   Hessi  is  one  of    those   valleys   which 
boasts  more  than  one  name.     Some  write  it  Hissa, 
but  we    heard    "el   Ahsa"   more  frequently  than 
any  other  form.     It  is  called  also  "  Wady  el  Sid- 
diyeh,"   "  Seil  Ghoraby,"  and  in   its  lower  course 
"  Wady  el  Kurahi."     It  forms  the  southern  bound- 
ary of  the  district   of  Kerak.      In  ancient  times  it 
was  the  boundary  between  Moab  and  Edom  (Deut. 
ii.,  13,  14;  Num.  xxi.,  12).     Like   the  Arnon  it  is 
not  one  valley  but  several,  and  the  various  names 
for  the  branches  have  occasioned  confusion.     At 
times  one  of  the  names  is  applied  to  all  the  system, 
and  at  another  each  branch  seems  to  have  a  sepa- 
rate name.   The  valley,  where  we  crossed  it,  differed 
from  the  Arnon  in   having  a  level   floor,  not  less 
than   two  hundred  yards  wide.     Toward  the  west 
the  sides  closed  in,  but  are  not  nearly  so  precipitous 
as  those  of  the  Arnon.     Toward  the  east  the  valley 


8  The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

divided,  and  from  a  distance  it  looked  as  though 
most  of  the  smaller  valleys  would  be  passable.  A 
fringe  of  oleanders,  reeds,  and  scrubby  trees,  in 
places  one  hundred  yards  wide,  lined  the  stream 
where  we  camped,  and  our  animals  enjoyed  picking 
at  the  herbage  among  the  bushes.  We  walked  up 
and  down  the  valley,  but  did  not  see  a  sign  of  any 
living  being,  though  we  suspected  the  existence 
of  wild  boars,  and  had  heard  that  amoncr  the  cliffs 
toward  the  Dead  Sea  leopards  had  frequently  been 
shot.  We  amused  ourselves  by  kindling  fires  along 
the  stream  and  when  the  reeds,  twenty  to  thirty 
feet  high,  began  to  burn  fiercely,  there  was  a  con- 
tinuous series  of  reports  like  those  of  a  small  can- 
non. We  watched  and  hoped  for  a  sight  of  a 
startled  boar,  but  failed  to  see  one.  Nothing  could 
exceed  the  stillness  and  loneliness  of  this  spot.  But 
while  we  saw  no  sign  of  any  living  creature,  we  did 
not  fail  to  set  a  sharp  watch  on  our  animals  all 
night  long,  and  to  wake  the  echoes  by  volleys  from 
our  guns  at  intervals.  Arabs  who  steal  horses  and 
mules  will  follow  a  caravan  for  days,  waiting  for  the 
chance  to  get  away  with  an  animal. 

It  was  delightful  sleeping  in  this  wild  spot,  but 
before  morning  we  had  a  taste  of  the  winds  which 
sweep  up  such  canyons,  and  found  our  tents  rock- 
ing and  lurching  about  in  a  manner  that  made  us 
hasten  to  get  into  our  clothing.  Before  we  had 
swallowed  breakfast,  things  were  Mapping  at  a 
great  rate,  and  it  required  the  help  of  every  hand 
in  camp  to  get  the  tents  down  and  rolled  into  their 


Kerak  to  Shobek  1 1 

coverings.  By  the  time  we  had  packed  up,  big  rain- 
drops began  to  fall,  and  we  made  preparation  for 
facine  the  storm,  which  threatened  to  break  in 
violence.  Our  road  out  of  the  valley,  after  crossing 
the  stream,  struck  up  a  flint-floored  canyon  where 
the  rock  was  worn  as  smooth  as  shining  brass. 
The  strokes  of  ten  thousand  hoofs  beating  upon  it 
for  thousands  of  years  have  not  made  so  much  as  a 
foothold  into  this  stratum,  which  ascends  at  an  easy 
grade  for  miles.  Here  and  there  occurs  a  change 
from  one  stratum  of  flint  to  another,  where  a 
cliff-like  wall  threatens  to  end  all  farther  progress, 
and  the  road  has  been  carried  with  great  difficulty 
round  the  debris  on  either  side. 

Our  barometers  gave  the  floor  of  the  valley  an 
elevation  of  sixteen  hundred  and  fifty  feet.  In  half 
an  hour  we  had  climbed  to  twenty-one  hundred  ; 
then  made  a  descent  of  about  three  hundred  feet. 
After  that  there  came  a  steady  climb  of  two  hours 
until  the  needles  of  our  barometers  stood  at  forty- 
two  hundred  feet  again.  A  little  later  they  dropped 
to  four  thousand  feet,  and  kept  at  that  elevation 
until  we  came  into  siorht  of  Tafileh. 

At  one  point  on  the  road,  about  an  hour  south  of 
the  Ahsa,  we  saw  ten  huge  heaps  of  stones,  piled 
up  irregularly  along  the  road.  A  few  years  ago 
some  Arabs  swooped  in  from  the  desert,  stole  cattle 
from  the  Kerak  people,  and  were  escaping  along 
this  road  with  their  plunder.  The  Kerakese  fol- 
lowed, and  came  up  with  the  Arabs  at  this  spot. 
A  free   fight  followed,  in  which  six  of  the  Arabs 


12  The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

were  shot  dead  and  four  wounded.  Afterwards 
the  Arabs  raised  a  heap  of  stones  to  mark  each  of 
the  ten  pools  of  blood.  We  were  unable  to  find  out 
whether  the  feud  or  account  was  still  open,  but  no 
Arab  of  that  particular  tribe  will  pass  there  without 
adding  an  oath  and  a  stone  to  the  heaps  already  so 
prominent. 

But  what  will  make  this  day's  ride  a  memorable 
one  was  the  howling  storm  which  broke  upon  us  as 
we  climbed  the  southern  slope  of  the  valley.  Many 
a  time  we  thought  of  the  saying,  current  in  Moab, 
"  O  Lord,  do  not  listen  to  the  prayers  of  the 
travellers  !  "  Travellers  are  always  supposed  to  ask 
for  fair  weather,  and  if  we  called  for  fair  weather 
that  day  the  prayers  of  the  people  prevailed  and 
the  heavens  gathered  for  a  storm.  We  foresaw  its 
coming,  and  eot  out  our  heaviest  clothing  and 
rubber  coats.  It  came  from  the  west  and  south, 
and  proved  to  be  one  of  the  most  pitiless  we  ever 
faced.  Half  an  hour  away  from  camp,  as  we  climbed 
over  a  small  ridge,  it  struck  us  fairly  in  the  face. 
Our  horses  quailed  before  it,  and  struggled  up  the 
steep  road.  We  buttoned  our  clothing  tighter  and 
made  light  of  it.  But  the  higher  we  climbed  the 
fiercer  it  blew,  and  at  many  a  turn  it  seemed  as 
though  both  we  and  our  horses  would  be  carried 
bodily  over  the  precipices  or  down  the  rough 
slopes. 

Most  of  a  man's  clothing  buttons  over  from  left 
to  rieht,  and  we  never  saw  the  great  disadvantage  of 
this  before.      The  fierce  wind  lifted  one  fold  after 


H 


fe 


o 


Kerak  to  Shobek  15 

another  of  clothing,  and  the  cold  rain  beat  in  at 
every  crevice,  until  it  seemed  almost  madness 
to  push  on.  But  there  was  nothing  else  to  do. 
And  so  for  over  four  hours,  more  than  half  of 
which  was  along  the  mountain  ridge  at  an  elevation 
of  four  thousand  feet,  we  pushed  against  the  howl- 
ing storm  until  the  last  drop  in  the  road  brought  us 
below  the  ridge  and  in  sight  of  Tafileh.  Half  an 
hour  later  we  were  sheltered  inside  the  half-built 
government  building,  beating  our  chests  and 
kicking  our  legs  out  to  rouse  a  little  warmth 
within.  We  were  soaked  to  the  skin  around  our 
necks  and  high  up  above  our  knees.  Our  big  over- 
coats were  completely  waterlogged  and  weighed 
not  less  than  forty  pounds !  The  building  was 
without  doors  or  windows  and  the  winds  swept 
through  it  with  violence.  Our  muleteers  while  on 
the  trail  at  times  had  to  hide  below  the  rocks,  and 
were  two  hours  behind  us.  Just  as  they  came  toil- 
ing round  the  shoulder  of  the  mountain  towards 
the  town,  the  howling  winds  slackened  up  and  the 
sun  broke  through  the  clouds,  giving  us  an  hour  or 
two  in  which  to  set  up  our  camp  among  the  olive 
trees.  We  dug  around  the  tents  and  Milhem 
brought  a  huge  sack  of  chaff  which  we  spread 
inside  and  around  the  tents,  and  saved  our  baggage 
from  being  dumped  into  the  mud.  Barring  our 
wet  clothing  we  managed  to  make  ourselves  fairly 
comfortable.  The  thermometer  dropped  to  510, 
and  the  wind  and  rain  kept  up  most  of  the  night. 
The  storm  proved  to  be  so  violent  that  our  men 


1 6  The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

sought  shelter  for  their  animals  and  themselves 
in  the  town.  After  some  bargaining  as  usual,  they 
rented  a  house  which  would  take  them  all  in  for 
eleven  cents,  and  were  happy. 

This  wind  was  most  peculiar  in  some  of  its 
features.  It  died  out  about  sunset  but  sprang 
up  again  about  ten  o'clock  at  night  and  continued 
to  increase  in  violence  until  the  morning,  when 
it  amounted  to  a  gale.  It  is  quite  doubtful 
whether  our  tents  would  have  stood  this  searching 
test  of  their  strength  if  we  had  not  pitched  them 
in  an  olive  grove,  which  gave  us  considerable 
shelter. 

Our  position  gave  us  a  clue  to  the  cause  of  this 
disturbance.  Looking  directly  down  the  valley  in 
front  of  our  tents  we  could  see  the  Dead  Sea,  and 
the  wind  followed  that  line  directly,  as  though 
it  were  a  great  chimney,  to  relieve  the  pressure  upon 
the  surface  of  that  body  of  water.  This  may  afford 
an  explanation  of  those  sudden  and  terrific  gales 
which  descend  upon  the  Dead  Sea.  The  over- 
heated eastern  plateau  starts  an  ascending  current, 
and  the  numerous  canyons  which  cut  through  the 
great  eastern  boundary  of  the  Sea  afford  an  ex- 
cellent channel  to  start  "  a  draft,"  as  it  were,  from 
below,  and  this  in  its  turn  brings  about  serious  con- 
sequences upon  the  Sea  when  the  equilibrium  of 
the  atmosphere  is  upset.  It  is  thus  easy  to  see  why  it 
is  that  a  moderate  storm  is  almost  an  impossibility 
in  this  region.  The  phenomenal  atmospheric  pres- 
sures developed  in  the  depression  of  the  Ghor,  and 


Kerak  to  Shobek  19 

the  ease  with  which  they  can  be  disturbed,  are  a 
constant  menace  to  peace  and  quiet,  thus  making 
the  Dead  Sea  a  species  of  perpetual  "  storm  centre." 
Tafileh  is  one  of  the  hapax  legomena  of  the 
Bible.  It  is  mentioned  as  "  Tophel  "  in  Deut.  i.,  1, 
and  never  appears  again.  That  it  was  an  im- 
portant place  in  Crusader  days  is  evidenced  by  the 
large  fortified  tower  which  still  stands  on  the 
highest  point  of  the  knoll,  and  is  occupied  by 
a  garrison  of  two  hundred  Turkish  soldiers.  It  is 
a  large  village  of  seven  hundred  houses.  The 
inhabitants  are  nearly  all  in  the  middle  stage, 
between  dwellers  in  tents  and  dwellers  in  cities. 
On  our  return  some  ten  days  later  we  saw  them 
getting  out  their  hair  tents,  mending  and  repairing 
them  preparatory  to  taking  to  the  nomad  life 
for  the  summer  months.  The  town  is  beautifully 
situated  on  the  side  of  a  hill,  with  a  well-watered 
and  well-cultivated  valley  below  it.  There  are  no 
less  than  eight  springs  in  and  around  the  village. 
The  one  on  the  main  road  with  a  small  Moslem 
prayer  platform  beside  it  is  esteemed  the  best 
drinking  water.  The  olive  groves,  vineyards,  and 
fig  orchards  are  like  an  oasis  in  the  desert.  Kerak 
on  the  inside  is  a  dust  and  rubbish  heap,  but  Tafi- 
leh is  a  beautiful  little  garden  town.  The  view 
from  the  top  of  its  castle  over  the  Dead  Sea 
is  of  exceptional  beauty  and  interest.  That  quiet 
water  surface  seemed  well  within  the  reach  of 
a  rifle  ball  although  it  was  five  thousand  feet  below 
us  ;    but,  as  we  found  out  later,   it  required  more 


20  The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

than  fourteen  hours  to  reach  it,  down  a  terrible 
road. 

We  had  expected  to  find  a  friend  in  Tafileh 
to  whom  we  carried  special  letters  from  Beirut, 
Abd  el  Ghanny  Pasha,  an  enlightened  man  from 
an  old  Beirut  family.  As  a  young  man  he  acted  as 
"yawar"  or  aide-de-camp  to  the  Sultan  Abd  el 
Aziz  prior  to  the  latter's  death  in  1876,  and  has 
served  the  Turkish  government  in  some  capacity 
ever  since.  Evidences  of  his  activity  as  Pasha 
of  Tafileh,  and  desire  to  improve  the  country, 
appeared  in  the  repairing  of  the  roads  all  round  the 
town.  A  new  mosque  had  been  built  and  occupied, 
a  telegraph  office  and  the  new  government  build- 
ing were  fast  approaching  completion.  He  aided 
Rasheed  Pasha  in  building  the  great  school  build- 
ing at  Kerak,  and  in  stretching  the  telegraph  wires 
to  Mecca  and  Medina.  We  were  sorry  to  miss 
seeing  him,  but  the  judge  and  the  telegraph 
operator  did  all  they  could  to  make  our  stay 
pleasant. 

Next  day  we  left  Tafileh  (thirty-six  hundred  and 
fifty  feet)  and  crossing  a  ridge  or  two  were  soon  mov- 
ing along;  amoncr  well-watered  fields  at  an  elevation 
of  forty-four  hundred  feet.  At  Ain  el  Beidah  (one 
hour  and  forty  minutes)  a  stream  of  clear  water 
flows  across  the  main  road.  For  more  than  an 
hour  we  had  Buseirah,  the  little  Bozrah,  in  siofht,  as 
we  wound  round  the  deep  ravines  which  cut  it  off 
on  three  sides  from  the  main  table-land.  It  has 
a  strong  natural  position  in  this  lawless  region.      It 


< 


<    o 


Kerak  to  Shobek  23 

was  an  important  town  of  Edom  and  is  mentioned 
in  Scripture  under  the  name  of  Bozrah  of  Edom. 
There  are  many  signs  of  extensive  buildings  all 
round  the  region,  and  an  abundance  of  water. 

Just  east  of  Buseirah  is  a  shrine  called  Neby 
Haudefeh,  a  rude  stone  building,  around  which 
are  piled  timbers  and  farming  utensils,  under  the 
protection  of  the  owner  of  the  shrine.  It  is  one 
of  those  strange  places  where  the  Moslems  offer 
bloody  offerings.  The  custom  here  is  to  carry  the 
sheep  to  the  roof,  cut  its  throat  above  the  doorway, 
and  allow  the  blood  to  run  down  the  walls.  The 
blackened  streaks  and  cakes  of  dried  blood  are 
visible  from  a  distance. 

At  the  brook  beyond  the  Neby  our  barometers 
registered  forty-one  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  and  dur- 
ing- the  course  of  the  next  hour  we  climbed  an  easv, 
grassy  slope,  until  we  reached  a  beautiful  fountain 
called  Am  el  Gelaidat,  at  five  thousand  two  hundred 
and  fifty  feet  above  the  sea.  Here  we  pitched  our 
tents  and  allowed  all  the  animals  to  graze  until 
sunset.  During  the  night  the  thermometer  dropped 
to  thirty-one  degrees,  and,  while  the  wind  was  not 
very  high,  the  muleteers  found  it  almost  too  cold 
to  sleep,  and  as  a  consequence  were  moving  about 
lonor  before  the  dawn.  It  was  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  of  all  our  camping-places  and,  though 
there  were  no  places  of  great  interest  in  sight,  the 
outlook  was  exceedingly  wide  and  exhilarating. 

The  sky  had  a  rainy  look  in  the  early  morning, 
but  it  soon    cleared  off  cold,    and  the  ride  on  to 


24  The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

Shobek  was  another  delightful  day  in  the  wilder- 
ness. Half  an  hour  beyond  the  camp,  we  looked 
down  from  fifty-six  hundred  feet  upon  the  little 
village  of  Dana,  once  surrounded  by  forests  of  oak 
which  are  dwindling  rapidly  away.  We  enjoyed 
beautiful  views  of  the  Wady  Dana  a  deep  cleft 
below  the  town,  whose  precipitous  sides  rise  from 
five  hundred  to  one  thousand  feet  at  the  angles 
of  a  railroad  cutting,  and  extend  for  miles  in  a 
straight  line  out  and  down  to  the  Arabah. 

Beyond  Dana  we  turned  eastward,  and  catching 
again  the  wide  curve  of  the  ancient  Roman  road, 
we  wound  down  the  eastern  slope,  passing  exten- 
sive ruins  on  a  bluff,  to  the  wide  plateau.  For  two 
and  a  half  hours  we  rode  over  this  miniature 
desert,  at  an  elevation  of  forty-six  hundred  feet, 
where  nothing  but  sage-brush  was  to  be  seen  for 
miles  and  miles,  north,  east,  and  south.  Toward 
the  west,  we  caught  glimpses  of  the  Arabah  and 
the  barren  mountains  beyond. 

About  10  a.m.  we  sighted  Shobek,  off  to  the 
right,  with  an  apparently  unbroken  plain  between 
us  and  the  castle.  And  here  we  bade  farewell  to 
our  faithful  guides — the  telegraph  poles  and  wires 
— which  we  had  followed  for  nine  days  down  the 
highlands.  They  swung  off  eastward  to  Maan 
and  the  caravan  road  to  Mecca,  while  our  road 
struck  over  the  plain,  straight  toward  the  castle. 
Without  much  warning  we  suddenly  found  our- 
selves on  the  brink  of  a  deep  chasm,  and  began  a 
sharp     descent     into    what    proved     to    be    Wady 


Kerak  to  Shobek  25 

Shobek.  In  half  an  hour  we  had  dropped  to 
thirty-seven  hundred  and  fifty  feet  in  a  perfect 
landslide  of  black  basalt  boulders.  For  more  than 
an  hour  we  wound  along  this  valley,  until  we 
reached  a  fine  grove  of  olive  trees,  not  far  from  the 
base  of  the  hill  upon  which  stands  the  castle  of 
Shobek— the  Mons  Regalis  of  the  Crusades.  It 
was  built  by  Baldwin  I.,  in  a  position  of  great 
natural  strength,  and  within  easy  distance  of  the 
great  caravan  route  between  Cairo  and  Damascus. 
This  fortress,  with  a  single  difficult  entrance,  stand- 
ing as  it  does  in  an  almost  inaccessible  location, 
must  have  been  impregnable  before  the  intro- 
duction of  firearms.  Nothing  but  starvation,  with 
no  hope  of  relief,  could  have  forced  any  garrison  to 
surrender.  We  know  that  Saladin  made  more 
than  one  desperate  and  fruitless  attempt  to  cap- 
ture it.  Like  the  Kerakese,  the  people  of  Shobek 
have  clung  tenaciously  to  their  semi -indepen- 
dence all  through  the  centuries.  It  has,  no  doubt, 
changed  hands  many  times,  but  the  Arab  tribe  who 
possessed  it  have  had  a  strong  place  to  fall  back 
upon,  whenever  pressed  by  an  enemy.  The  Turk- 
ish government  took  this  part  of  the  country  in 
1893,  and  placed  here  a  small  garrison  of  mounted 
soldiers.  In  May,  1895,  some  trouble  arose  be 
tween  the  garrison  and  the  people  over  the  de- 
mands the  soldiers  made  to  have  the  women  carry 
water  from  the  valley  below  to  water  the  soldiers' 
horses.  The  people  drove  out  the  soldiers,  pro- 
visioned themselves,  shut  the  gate,  and  defied  the 


26  The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

ofovernment  at  Kerak.  The  Mutaserrif  called 
upon  them  to  surrender.  They  answered  that 
while  willing  to  pay  all  taxes  imposed  upon 
them,  they  would  no  longer  admit  any  soldiers 
to  dwell  in  the  city.  The  government  gathered 
some  six  hundred  foot  soldiers  and  one  hundred 
cavalry,  and,  planting  two  cannon  on  a  neighbor- 
ing hill,  laid  siege  to  the  place.  Occasional  skir- 
mishes lasted  for  weeks.  Then  some  Bedawin 
came  to  the  relief  of  the  besieged,  but  they  were 
stampeded  and  put  to  flight  by  the  cavalry  and  the 
band  of  military  music  !  The  soldiers  bombarded 
the  city  for  days,  and  we  saw  plainly  where  the 
walls  and  houses  had  been  splashed  with  lead  from 
the  Martinis  and  shattered  by  the  cannon  balls. 
The  government  forces  eventually  took  the  city, 
after  two  hundred  of  the  people  and  twenty  of  the 
soldiers  had  been  killed,  and  at  the  time  of  our 
visit  maintained  a  guard  of  eleven  horsemen  there. 
We  renamed  the  castle  "  the  Mailed  Fist,"  for, 
seen  from  almost  every  side,  it  is  the  most  insolent 
and  threatening  fortress  we  ever  saw.  We  pitched 
our  tents  by  a  small  spring  to  the  south,  and  then 
proceeded  to  ride  up  into  the  fortress  itself.  The 
northern  slope  of  the  hill  is  fully  six  hundred  feet 
high,  but  from  our  camp  to  the  city  gate  was  a 
climb  of  three  hundred  feet.  The  road  encircles 
two  sides  of  the  hill  in  its  easy  winds.  The  hill 
itself  is  of  limestone,  but  with  hundreds  of  plate- 
like strata  of  flint,  standing  at  an  angle  of  forty-five 
degrees,  and  looking  very  like  great  plates  of  steel. 


Kerak  to  Shobek  29 

After  the  Crusaders  abandoned  the  place,  some  of 
the  Moslems  repaired  it,  and  inserted  great  Arabic 
inscriptions  like  a  frieze  round  the  castle  walls. 
The  letters  of  these  inscriptions  are  two  and  three 
feet  in  height,  and  extend  for  hundreds  of  feet 
unbroken.  It  is  perhaps  within  the  truth  to  say 
that  nearly  half  a  mile  of  inscriptions  still  exist.  No 
doubt  they  express  the  joy  and  pride  of  those  who 
fought  so  long  and  so  savagely  against  the  Crusade 
banners  in  these  regions.  The  walls  on  all  sides 
are  very  fine  and  the  winding  road  is  commanded 
by  them  at  every  foot  of  its  ascent.  The  present 
gate  is  a  breach  among  the  ruins  of  a  tower  and  is 
closed  by  a  rude  wooden  wicket.  Inside  the  wall 
is  a  confused  mass  of  strong  buildings,  arches, 
vaults,  stairways,  wTith  story  above  story  of  the 
present  filthy  dwellings.  At  one  point  are  the  re- 
mains of  an  enormous  building  with  a  tablet  telling 
something  of  its  history.  There  are  also  the  ruins 
of  a  church  of  the  Crusaders  ;  in  fact  the  old 
masonry  seems  to  be  entirely  of  Crusading  origin, 
even  though  the  site  may  well  have  been  occupied 
by  one  of  the  dukes  of  Edom.  The  most  curious 
feature  of  the  city  is  a  deep  well  among  the  ruins, 
with  some  three  hundred  and  seventy-five  steps 
leading  down  to  the  water.  So  that  with  food  to 
eat  the  fortress  could  hold  out  indefinitely  against 
an  enemy.  Several  springs  of  water  burst  from 
the  sides  and  base  of  the  hill,  and  are  led  away  to 
irrigate  the  gardens,  which  are  in  a  state  of  great 
neglect  though   capable  of  being   made   valuable. 


3°  The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

The  present  people  have  been  accustomed  to 
plough  and  sow  only  as  far  as  a  bullet  would 
carry  and  protect  a  growing  crop  ! 

The  view  from  the  castle  is  fine  and  extends  far 
over  the  plain  to  the  north  and  east. 

We  met  the  sheikh  of  the  place,  whose  name  is 
Deeb  (wolf),  in  the  room  of  the  Zabit,  and  the 
sight  was  a  strange  one.  Deeb  was  a  good  type 
of  an  aristocratic  Arab,  lithe  in  figure,  lone,  slender 
hands,  dressed  in  desert  costume  with  sword  and 
Mowing  garments.  The  Zabit  was  as  good  a  type 
of  a  brutal  Roman  soldier,  and  his  chief  pleasure 
seemed  to  be  that  of  gloating  over  Deeb  and 
his  followers.  He  used  his  tongue  like  a  whip- 
lash, told  us  the  story  of  their  ineffectual  attempts 
to  hold  the  castle  against  the  government,  anc[ 
ended  each  paragraph  with  an  invitation  to  Deeb 
to  say  :  "  Allah  Yansur  es  Sultan  " — "  May  God 
make  the  Sultan  victorious."  For  reasons  that 
need  no  explication  here  Deeb  would  make  the 
proper  response,  and  the  Zabit  would  then  curse 
him,  and  tell  him  that  it  came  from  his  lips  only 
and  not  from  his  heart.  It  recalled  another  Arab 
saying  that  no  Anglo-Saxon  can  fully  understand, 
"  Kiss  the  hand  that  you  cannot  break  and  bide 
your  time." 

We  had  difficulty  in  securing  barley  at  Shobek. 
The  Mecca  caravan  had  passed  southward  some 
twenty  days  before  us,  and  all  these  highland  towns 
had  been  scoured  for  provisions  of  all  kinds.  This 
was  one  reason,  but  a  far  more  powerful  one  was 


Kerak  to  Shobek  33 

the  presence  of  the  eleven  government  horsemen 
whose  animals  needed  barley  every  day.  Our 
muleteers  came  back  in  daylight  with  empty  bags, 
but  at  sunset  some  of  the  people  came  stealthily 
and  an  hour  later  we  had  all  the  barley  we  needed. 
Had  they  declared  in  daylight  the  existence  of 
barley  in  their  homes  the  soldiers  would  have  had 
either  barley  or  the  money  very  soon. 

In  hunting  for  the  meaning  of  Shobek,  the  mod- 
ern name  of  the  castle  and  town,  and  in  searching 
for  some  possible  connection  with  the  Crusader 
name,  Mons  Regalis,  we  came  across  a  thread  of 
coincidence  which  may  some  day  lead  to  a  solu- 
tion. We  state  it  for  what  it  is  worth.  The  last 
Crusader  chief  who  held  Kerak  and  this  out- 
post of  Mons  Regalis  was  Reynald,  or  Renau  de 
Chatillon,  the  audacious  freebooter,  whose  perfidy 
towards  Saladin  brought  on  the  final  slaughter 
which  ended  the  Kingdom  of  Jerusalem  at  Hattin 
(see  Vol.  I.,  p.  115).  Chatillon  in  French  has  the 
meaning  of  a  diminutive  for  the  lamprey  eel,  and  it 
is  not  a  long  stretch  of  the  imagination  to  suppose 
that  Reynald  carried  somewhere  on  his  armor  or 
banners  some  symbol  connected  with  this  slippery 
creature.  This  would  of  course  be  a  well-known 
sign  to  the  warriors  of  Saladin.  Mons  Regalis, 
with  Kerak,  shared  the  rigors  of  siege  and  bloody 
assault.  Reynald  must  more  than  once  have  been 
shut  up  within  its  walls,  after  raiding  the  regions 
round  about.  Perhaps  the  final  act  of  the  drama, 
east  of  the  Jordan,  was  played  here,  and  when  at 


34  The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

last  the  "  lamprey  eel "  was  caught,  in  this  almost 
impregnable  fortress,  the  Saracens,  quick  then  as 
their  descendants  are  to-day,  changed  the  name,  in 
fine  derision,  from  Mons  Regalis  to  Shobek,  for 
Shobek  means  in  Arabic  a  fishing-net.  The  great 
inscriptions  round  the  fortress  walls  will  some  day 
be  gathered,  and  it  is  almost  certain  that  some 
reference  will  be  found  in  them  to  the  last  great 
scene  in  the  tragedy. 

Latin  literature  should  eventually  give  us  the 
ancient  name  of  Shobek.  The  fact  that  there 
are  two  Roman  roads  between  Shobek  and  Petra 
points  clearly  to  its  importance  long  before  the 
days  of  the  Crusaders. 


T 


CHAPTER  II 

SHOBEK  TO  PETRA 

HIS  last  stage  was  an  exciting  one.  The 
dream  of  twenty  years  was  about  to  come 
true.  The  long  journey  of  twenty-five  days 
from  Beirut  was  almost  accomplished.  All  diffi- 
culties had  been  overcome,  and  there  was  only  one 
short  day's  ride  between  us  and  the  goal.  Could 
the  actual  Petra  equal  our  expectations,  or  even 
rank  well  with  the  many  interesting  sights  we  had 
seen  on  our  way  to  it  ?  The  cool  air  of  the  moun- 
tain-tops, and  afterwards  the  warm  sunshine,  was 
as  beautiful  as  any  winter  day  could  be,  and  the 
day  will  live  forever  in  our  memories,  as  a  fitting 
climax  to  all  that  preceded  it. 

There  are  two,  if  not  three,  roads  between  Sho- 
bek  and  Petra.  We  chose  the  easterly  one  in 
going  and  a  more  westerly  one  in  returning.  We 
struck  camp  and  were  on  the  march  at  8  a.m. 
Because  we  no  longer  had  the  telegraph-poles  to 
guide  the  muleteers,  and  because  we  were  acting 
as  our  own  guides,  we  kept  our  baggage  train  in 
sight  all  day.  Our  camp  in  Shobek  was  south  of 
the  fortress,  and  our  barometers  registered  forty- 

35 


36  The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

seven  hundred  feet.  We  climbed  out  of  the  valley 
by  a  road  bearing  east,  and  in  fifteen  minutes  were 
on  the  plateau,  level  with  the  fortress.  Ten  min- 
utes later  we  crossed  the  watercourse,  and,  leav- 
ing the  mill  about  three  hundred  yards  to  the  left, 
pulled  slowly  up  a  low  ridge,  and  across  two  small 
valleys,  our  road  rising  gently  all  the  way.  About 
9.30,  we  left  the  main  road  and  turned  up  a  slope, 
reaching  Bir  Kadaa  at  10.15.  Then  we  went  due 
south,  through  a  long,  narrow  valley,  up  which  ran 
an  easy  road  to  the  crest,  where  the  barometers 
marked  fifty-seven  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  or 
more  than  one  thousand  feet  higher  than  Shobek. 
Crossing  this  watershed,  we  dropped  into  another 
narrow  valley  filled  with  butm  trees  and  carpeted 
with  fresh,  green  grass.  Here  and  there  we  saw 
traces  of  bears'  claws,  where  these  animals  had 
searched  for  acorns,  after  the  snows  had  melted 
away.  Beyond  another  hillside,  which  showed 
ruins  of  some  sort,  we  crossed  a  ridge,  went  down 
a  steep  slope,  and,  at  11.40,  joined  the  main  road 
a^ain,  which  had  made  a  lone  swine  around  the 
mountains  to  the  west  of  our  higher  route.  After 
twenty  minutes  we  reached  a  fine  spring  among 
extensive  ruins,  and  sat  down  for  a  good  luncheon. 
Our  barometers  here  stood  at  fifty-four  hundred 
feet,  and  a  few  minutes  beyond  rose  again  close  to 
fifty-seven  hundred  feet.  Here  we  found  ourselves 
on  the  back  of  a  rid^e,  with  a  wide  view  east  and 
west.  Then,  for  a  distance  of  three  or  four  miles, 
we  followed  the  best  bit  of   Roman  road  we  had 


Shobek  to  Petra  37 

ever  seen.  It  was  almost  unbroken,  and  showed 
exactly  what  it  was  eighteen  hundred  or  two  thou- 
sand years  ago.  It  was  made  of  basalt  blocks,  at 
either  side  a  fence-like  row  protruding  above  the 
ground  like  a  border.  The  street  within  was  triple  ; 
there  was  a  road  in  the  centre,  paved  with  large 
blocks,  and  two  paved  ways  on  either  side.  These 
side  roads  sloped  each  way  from  the  central  di- 
viding line  of  bia;  blocks  to  the  fence-like  rows  on 
either  side.  The  way  this  road  swung  around 
the  mountain-tops  and  over  ravines,  disdainful  of 
every  difficulty,  holding  steadily  to  its  course  south- 
ward, was  grandly  impressive.  We  thought  of  the 
days  when  a  Roman  chariot  and  its  proud  war-horses 
could  have  travelled  from  these  lonely  mountain- 
tops  of  Edom,  up  through  Asia  Minor,  over  the 
Hellespont  through  Europe,  and  hard  up  to  the 
borders  of  Scotland,  on  just  such  roads  as  this. 
No  power  but  Rome  ever  held  Eastern  Palestine 
secure  against  the  desert,  and  her  roads  and  bridges 
are  still  an  enduring  monument  to  her  greatness. 
Among  the  travellers  who  preceded  us  more  re- 
cently in  these  regions  were  two  German  scholars, 
Professors  Brunnow  and  Euting,  and  part  of  their 
work  was  the  recovering  of  the  ancient  Roman 
milestones,  such  as  we  saw  at  the  Arnon  (Vol.  I.,  p. 
313).  Between  Irbid  and  Petra  they  have  dug  up 
more  than  two  hundred,  many  of  which  are  covered 
with  fine  inscriptions.  We  saw  traces  of  their 
efforts  at  many  points,  and  heard  of  their  work  at 
many  places  that  we  did  not  take  time  to  visit. 


38  The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

After  an  hour  along  this  magnificent  mountain 
ridge,  and  before  we  had  ceased  to  mention  and 
admire  the  works  and  power  of  the  ancient  Ro- 
mans, we  swung  out  to  the  end  of  the  headland. 
The  outlook  southward  expanded,  and  suddenly 
there  burst  into  view,  a  thousand  or  fifteen  hundred 
feet  lower  down  and  not  more  than  three  or  four 
miles  away,  a  wonderful  mass  of  castellated  peaks, 
domes,  pinnacles,  and  other  fantastic  shapes,  with 
indescribable  coloring,  from  snow-white  at  the  base 
to  purples  and  yellows  and  crimsons  higher  up, 
bathed  and  transformed  in  the  brilliant  sunshine, 
till  it  seemed  like  an  enchanted  fairyland.  The 
main  mass  from  side  to  side  was  not  less  than 
fifteen  miles  in  extent,  and  the  height,  as  it  cleared 
the  surrounding  ridges,  appeared  to  be  not  less  than 
four  thousand  feet  above  the  sea.  All  the  outlines 
were  smoothed  and  rounded,  as  though  covered 
with  a  veil  of  diaphanous  light.  Beyond  this  mass 
to  the  left  stood  the  sharper  peak  of  Mount  Hor, 
with  Aaron's  tomb  glistening  in  the  sunlight,  and 
below  them  both,  five  thousand  feet  down  and 
some  distance  beyond,  was  the  deep  cleft  of  the 
Arabah,  reaching  southward  toward  the  Gulf  of 
Akabah.  We  gazed  enchanted,  for  somewhere  in 
the  heart  of  this  brilliant  mass  lay  the  ancient  city  of 
Petra,  about  which  we  had  read  and  dreamed  and 
were  now  to  see  with  our  own  eyes. 

And  here  we  experienced  a  genuine  surprise. 
After  all  we  had  read  and  studied,  we  had  failed 
to  realize  that  the  entrance  to  Petra  from  the  north 


Shobek  to  Petra  4* 

was  a  descent,  a  down-hill  road,  into  the  heart  of 
the  great  rocky  mountain,  and  not  an  ascent,  up 
some  rocky  ravine,  into  an  eagle's  nest  of  a  city. 

The  original  founder  of  this  stronghold,  we  now 
began  to  realize,  must  have  been  a  strategist  of  no 
mean  powers, — a  man  who  was  not  afraid  to  break 
away  from  precedent,  and  do  an  original  act. 

Most  fortified  spots  in  the  world's  history  have 
been  elevations,  because  men  chose  to  co-operate 
with    nature    in    making    her    almost    inaccessible 
places  perfectly  safe  resorts  by  their  ingenuity  and 
skill.     We    had  seen  many  such   places  from  the 
beginning  of  the  trip  until  now.      Here,  however, 
wa*s  a  hole  in  the  ground,  as  it  were,  which  had 
proven  just  as  efficient  a  protection  to  its   inhab- 
itants  as   a   hilltop    could  be.     What   a  splendid 
location   it  was,  and  how  thoroughly  guarded  by 
nature,    will    appear    as   we    proceed.      From    our 
standpoint,   we   could   only   make   out   that   some- 
where, out  in  the  central  portion  of  this  tangled 
and  badly   eroded   mass,   there   was  a  depression, 
deep  enough  for  its  surrounding  natural  walls  to 
hide  its  bottom  from  view.      A  simple  inspection 
of  the  surface  of   the  sandstone  was  sufficient  to 
deter  us  from  attempting  to  cross  it,  as  a  more  un- 
even, ragged  mass  is  hard  to  imagine.      It  seemed 
as    though,    not    content    with    its  ordinary  work, 
erosion    had    produced    enormous    pinnacles    and 
cut  deep  fissures  beside  them,  until  the  natural  che- 
vaux-de-frise  forbade  all  access    from  the  foot  of 
the  limestone  walls  to  the  edge  of  the  depression, 


42  The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 


which  was  about  two  miles  away.  The  following 
sketch  will  give  a  diagrammatic  idea  of  the  region, 
as  it  would  look  from  the  direction  of  the  Arabah 
in  a  bird's-eye  view. 


,(,v 


'!;i\W 


Sandstone  Sffif 

w 


it'i 


-&  f 


ft 


iiai 


^SfiP!8?W 


BIRD'S-EYE  VIEW  OF  THE  LOCATION  OF  PETRA 


We  had  been  journeying  along  a  limestone 
ridge,  with  here  and  there  an  outcrop  of  basalt  or 
flint  from  which  the  Romans  built  their  splendid 
road.  And  now  we  came  to  the  southern  edge  of 
the  limestone  formation  with  a  cliff-like  slope  of  one 
thousand  feet,  and  were  looking  down  into  an  an- 
cient geological  bay,  which  nature  had  filled  with 
this  matchless  mass  of  many-hued  sandstone. 

This  bay,  in  the  eastern  side  of  the  great  Jordan 
depression,  immediately  attracted  our  attention. 
It  was  almost  semicircular  in  form,  being  about 
twenty  miles  in  length,  north  and  south,  and  about 
twelve  or  fifteen  from  east  to  west  at  its  widest 
portion. 


Shobek  to  Petra  43 

The  sandstone  mass  seemed  to  fill  it  to  about 
the  same  height  throughout  its  entire  extent,  as  far 
as  our  telescopes  could  enable  us  to  judge,  Mount 
Hor  itself  being  but  one  of  many  "fragments"  left 
in  place  during  the  erosion  of  the  upper  surface  of 
the  sandstone.  All  of  the  elevations  upon  this  lower 
level  were  below  the  point  of  contact  of  the  sand- 
stone with  the  limestone,  and  we  found  afterward 
that  even  the  summit  of  Mount  Hor  was  some 
four  hundred  feet  below  this  line. 

The  line  of  contact  between  the  two  formations 
is  non-conformable,  and  varies  up  and  down  through 
several  hundred  feet,  as  far  as  we  were  able  to  in- 
vestigate it,  at  the  point  where  we  descended  from 
the  upper  level  to  the  lower.  The  limestone  strata 
retain  their  nearly  horizontal  position  throughout 
the  whole  eastern  side  of  the  bay,  and  appear  in 
the  same  position  between  the  masses  of  sand- 
stone, giving  the  latter  the  appearance,  so  plainly 
shown  in  some  of  the  photographs,  of  having  been 
plastered  against  the  limestone. 

The  structure  of  the  sandstone  throughout  indi- 
cated that  it  had  been  a  brackish-water  formation, 
and  it  varied  in  consistency  even  in  the  same  mass  ; 
which  would  account  for  some  of  the  fantastic  forms 
of  erosion  so  evident  on  every  hand. 

We  were  standing  at  an  elevation  of  nearly 
fifty-five  hundred  feet,  and  began  here  our  plunge 
downward  into  Wady  Musa.  The  limestone  rock 
ceased  at  forty-seven  hundred  feet,  and  there  the 
sandstone   formation  began.      For  an   hour  and  a 


44  The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

quarter  we  continued  the  steep  descent,  and,  leav- 
ing the  town  of  Elji  on  the  left,  made  our  way  into 
the  bottom  of  the  valley  along  which  flowed  the 
stream,  lined  with  a  thick  growth  of  oleanders. 
Twenty-one  hundred  feet  had  disappeared  from 
the  barometric  record  noted  when  we  stood  on  the 
limestone  cliff  on  the  edge  of  the  limestone  head- 
land above,  and  we  pitched  our  tents  (Camp  out- 
side Sik)  at  an  elevation  of  thirty-four  hundred 
feet,  beside  the  stream  at  a  point  where  the  valley 
contracts  for  the  last  time  before  it  disappears  in 
the  great  mass  of  rocks  beyond. 

While  still  on  the  descent,  we  were  met  by  Arabs 
from  Elji,  who  asked  if  we  had  "  the  government  " 
with  us,  and  added  that  they  had  stringent  orders 
to  take  to  Maan  all  who  came  unattended.  At 
this  time  the  caravan  was  some  distance  behind  us, 
and  Hasan  remained  with  them  as  pfuard,  while 
we  carried  our  rifles  for  protection.  We  calmly 
asked  them  if  they  had  five  hundred  men  to  turn 
us  back,  and  proceeded  on  our  way,  for  just  at 
that  time  our  men  came  over  the  edge  of  the  cliff, 
making  noise  enough  for  an  army.  Before  our 
tents  were  up,  a  number  of  the  Elji  people  had  col- 
lected, and,  keeping  them  at  a  distance,  we  pro- 
ceeded to  give  them  some  advice  as  to  how  they 
should  treat  travellers  in  the  future  ;  explaining  to 
them  that  since  the  government  had  taken  actual 
possession  of  this  region,  they  could  no  longer 
worry  strangers  and  extort  bakhshish  from  them 
under  any  pretext  whatever.      If  they  came  to  treat 


Shobek  to  Petra  47 

strangers  decently,  travellers  would  come  without 
guards,  and  all  such  expenses,  instead  of  being 
paid  to  the  soldiers,  would  fall  into  their  pockets. 
They  promised  to  profit  by  our  admonitions,  and 
certainly  they  gave  us  no  trouble  during  our  stay. 

It  was  now  3  p.  m.,  and  our  feet  were  almost 
within  the  enchanted  ground.  We  pitched  our 
camp  outside  for  several  reasons.  We  had  been 
assured  that  pack  animals  could  no  longer  make 
their  way  through  the  narrow  gorge.  Besides, 
Elji  was  already  an  hour  behind  us,  and  the  mule- 
teers were  obliged  to  go  back  to  purchase  barley, 
making  a  journey  of  two  hours  going  and  coming. 
To  have  entered  the  city  would  have  added  an- 
other hour's  journey,  making  the  purchase  of  bar- 
ley impossible  before  nightfall.  Then,  the  known 
character  of  the  lawless  people  added  another  con- 
sideration that  we  could  not  ignore.  In  Beirut,  on 
our  return,  our  children  asked,  "  But  how  could 
you  wait  another  night  ? "  Our  answer  was, 
"  We  could  not,  and  did  not ! "  Taking  a  rifle 
and  a  shotgun,  and  a  small  lad  as  guide,  we  were 
soon  picking  our  way  into  the  strangest  region  we 
had  ever  seen.  The  photographs  will  help  tell  the 
story  and  make  the  whole  scene  clearer  than  many 
words  can  do. 

A  glance  at  the  photograph  (p.  45,  Camp  out- 
side Sik)  will  show  how  the  sides  of  the  narrow 
valley  crowded  in  towards  each  other.  The  dark 
mass  between  the  tents  is  the  growth  of  olean- 
ders along    the    descending    brook,   which    bends 


4-8  The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

toward  the  right  below  the  tents.  The  "  View 
from  above  the  entrance,"  was  taken  from  a  point 
on  the  rocks  to  the  right  of  our  camp  and  looks 
across  the  narrow  valley,  down  which  we  followed 
the  stream.  It  gives  an  idea  of  how  the  sandstone 
masses  crowd  in  upon  the  gorge  and  completely 
conceal  its  existence.  Our  road  among  the  olean- 
ders was  only  a  cattle  path,  and  was  half  the  time 
in  the  brook  itself.  About  two  hundred  yards 
from  our  tents,  we  came  upon  the  first  signs  of 
human  handiwork.  On  the  right  side  of  the  valley 
two  detached  pedestals  (photograph,  Entrance  to 
Sik,  tomb,  etc.,  p.  57),  about  eighteen  feet  square  and 
thirty  feet  high,  guarded  the  entrance  to  a  small 
lateral  valley,  in  which  are  many  beautiful  rock- 
hewn  temples  and  tombs.  They  were  once  sur- 
mounted by  elongated  pyramids  of  natural  rock, 
such  as  are  seen  in  the  following  photographs, 
but  which  have  been  broken  or  quarried  away  by 
later  occupants  of  the  gorge  and  city.  We  won- 
dered if  they  did  not  contain  a  tomb  or  sarcopha- 
gus on  top,  but  lacking  anything  in  the  shape  of 
a  ladder,  we  could  not  examine  them.  Some  one 
hundred  yards  beyond,  on  the  left  bank  of  the 
stream,  is  a  fine  specimen  of  a  two-story  cutting 
(p.  53,  Tomb  at  entrance).  The  lower  tomb  once 
had  a  fine  facade,  and  many  rooms  in  the  rock,  but 
facing  the  weather  it  has  suffered  greatly  from 
storm  and  wind.  A  broad  stairway,  plainly  seen  on 
the  left,  led  up  to  the  upper  tomb  or  temple,  above 
which  are  seen  four  of  the  elongated  pyramids  just 


Shobek  to  Petra  51 

mentioned.  The  height  of  this  double  rock  carving- 
is  not  less  than  sixty  feet.  The  tortoise-shaped  rock 
on  the  right  is  a  detached  mass  which  has  been 
hollowed  out,  and  being  supplied  with  doors  and 
windows,  once  probably  formed  a  guard  shelter  or 
served  some  such  purpose,  at  the  entrance  of  the 
city. 

Another  turn  in  the  narrow  valley  brought  us  to 
the  outer  end  of  the  gorge  (End  of  Sik  outside, 
p.  55),  where  amidst  a  marvellous  tangle  of  stream 
and  oleanders  are  ruins  of  what  seems  to  have  been 
a  massive  portal  to  the  gorge.  As  far  as  we  could 
make  out  the  lines,  they  formed  four  sides  of  an 
octagon,  one  of  which,  2-3,  stretched  across  and 
closed  the  narrow  entrance  to  the  defile.  One 
might  easily  reach  this  point, 
and  even  then  turn  back  with- 
out finding  the  entrance,  so 
wild  and  impossible  seems  the 
whole  scene.  The  way  appeared  to  be  completely 
choked  with  the  mass  of  oleanders,  heaps  of  cut 
stones,  old  foundations,  pillars,  remains  of  arches, 
while  the  rocks  about  are  cut  and  carved  into  blind 
doors  and  windows,  stairways  and  pyramids.  But, 
following  the  stream  through  a  dense  mass  of  brush, 
we  heard  it  dropping  and  rushing  over  a  pile  of 
rocks,  and  suddenly  we  were  face  to  face  with  a  cliff, 
which  is  rent  from  top  to  bottom.  At  last  we  had 
reached  the  entrance  to  the  famous  Sik  or  cleft. 
Its  extreme  width  is  not  more  than  twenty  feet, 
while  its  sides,  only  a  few  feet  inside  the  entrance, 


52  The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

reach  up  perpendicularly  to  eighty  or  a  hundred 
feet.  It  was  here  that  a  great  arch  was  thrown 
across1  from  side  to  side  some  fifty  feet  above 
the  water,  forming  an  inner  gateway,  and  per- 
haps connected  with  the  semi-octagonal  wail  re- 
ferred to.  But  the  arch  has  fallen,  and  only  the 
lower  stones  remain  clinging  to  the  sides  of  the 
cliff. 

Into  this  gloomy  looking  gorge  we  pushed,  and 
every  step  onward  added  to  the  charm  and  mystery 
of  the  whole  experience.  For  more  than  a  mile  we 
splashed  along  among  the  undergrowth  of  wild  fig 
trees,  oleanders,  and  ivy.  The  ravine  with  its  clear 
stream,  and  the  remains  of  the  ancient  paved  road 
along  its  bed,  wind  about  as  if  they  were  the  most 
flexible  of  objects  instead  of  being  confined  in  a 
rent  through  a  mighty  mountain  wall.  The  pre- 
cipitous rocky  sides  towered  above  our  heads  at 
first  one  hundred  feet,  then  two  hundred  feet,  and 
at  times  more  than  five  hundred  feet.  There  were 
many  places  where  the  gloomy  sides  leaned  over 
the  roadway,  threatening  to  crack,  and  in  their 
crumbling,  crush  us  between  their  awful  masses. 
Now  and  then  a  sharp  turn  in  the  defile  would 
carry  us  out  from  between  the  shadowy  walls, 
and  apparently  straight  against  a  precipice,  over 
which  the  sunshine  fell  in  cascades  of  colored 
light. 

To  lift  one's  eyes  from  the  little  stream,  with  its 
fringe  of  green,  to  the  gloomy  walls  overhanging 

1  Existing  when  Stanley  visited  Petra  in  1S52. 


I 

W 

x 

H 


Shobek  to  Petra  55 

it,  and  up  through  the  many-hued  layers  of  sand- 
stone, each  growing  brighter  with  the  increasing 
light,  to  the  sinuous  ribbon  of  blue  sky,  bordered 
by  the  sunlit  purples  of  the  upper  rocks,  glowing 
in  the  sunshine,  produced  an  effect  that  beggars 
description,  and  would  defy  a  painter's  power  to 
reproduce.  Seen  at  morning,  at  midday,  or  at 
midnight,  the  Sik,  this  matchless  entrance  to  a  hid- 
den city,  is  unquestionably  one  of  the  great  glories 
of  ancient  Petra.  We  wandered  on,  amazed,  en- 
chanted, and  delighted,  not  wishing  for,  not  expect- 
ing anything  that  could  be  finer  than  this,  when  a 
look  ahead  warned  us  that  we  were  approaching 
some  monument  worth  attention,  and  suddenly  we 
stepped  out  of  the  narrow  gorge  into  the  sunlight 
again.  There  in  front  of  us,  carved  in  the  face  of 
the  cliff,  half  revealed,  half  concealed,  in  the  grow- 
ing shadows,  was  one  of  the  largest,  most  perfect, 
and  most  beautiful  monuments  of  antiquity, — 
Pharaoh's  Treasury ! 

Almost  as  perfect  as  the  day  it  came  fresh  from 
beneath  the  sculptor's  chisel,  fifteen  hundred  or 
two  thousand  years  ago ;  colored  with  the  natural 
hues  of  the  brilliant  sandstones,  which  add  an  in- 
describable element  to  the  architectural  beauty ; 
flanked  and  surmounted  by  the  cliff,  which  had 
been  carved  and  tinted  in  its  turn  by  the  powers  of 
nature  ;  approached  by  the  mysterious  defile,  it  is 
almost  overpowering  in  its  effect. 

Such  is  the  ancient  entrance  to  the  strangest  city 
on  our  planet.   Along  its  cool,  gloomy  gorge,  filed  the 


56  The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

caravans  of  antiquity,  from  Damascus  and  the  East, 
from  the  desert,  from  Egypt  and  the  heart  of  Africa. 
Kings,  queens,  conquerors,  have  all  marvelled  at  its 
beauties  and  at  its  strangeness.  Wealth  untold  went 
in  and  out  of  it  for  centuries,  and  now  for  over 
thirteen  hundred  years  it  has  been  silent  and  de- 
serted. We  had  seen  enough  for  one  day.  Out 
of  the  fading  light,  into  the  deepening  gloom  of 
the  entrance  gorge,  we  picked  our  way  back  to  the 
tents  among  the  oleanders  with  some  impressions 
that  death  can  hardly  efface. 


CHAPTER  III 

EDOM  AND   PETRA 

THE  scene  around  our  camp  at  the  entrance  to 
Petra  was  one  of  rejoicing.  Even  the  mule- 
teers awoke  to  the  strangeness  of  the  country 
we  had  entered,  and  were  eager  for  the  sights  and 
experiences  of  the  mysterious  city  below  us  in  the 
heart  of  the  mountain.  The  air  was  mild  and 
moist,  our  tents  were  in  a  sheltered  spot,  compared 
with  our  other  camping-places,  and  after  doubling 
the  guard,  the  rest  of  the  men  turned  in  early. 
We  had  reached  another  vantage-point  in  our  jour- 
ney, and  before  we  slept  we  went  back  in  imagina- 
tion over  the  centuries  of  history  and  legend  which 
overlay  and  interlap  like  the  debris  of  ancient 
cities,  and  were  represented  around  us  in  such  an 
interesting  manner. 

When  we  crossed  the  Ahsa,  between  Kerak  and 
Tafileh,  we  left  the  land  of  Moab  and  entered 
Edom,  whose  wild  life  touches  that  of  the  Children 
of  Israel  at  so  many  points.  This  region  comes 
into  history  as  Mount  Seir  in  the  days  of  Chedar- 
laomer  and  Abraham.  It  then  embraced  the  moun- 
tainous district  from  the  Dead  Sea,  south  of  the 

59 


6o  The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

Zered  (  Ahsa)  to  the  east  arm  of  the  Red  Sea  ;  it  was 
bounded  on  the  east  by  the  desert  and  on  the  west 
by  the  deep  valley  of  the  Arabah.  Its  principal 
peak  was  Jebel  Neby  Harun,  known  as  Mount  Hor, 
which  bears  the  ancient  name  of  the  region  to  the 
present  day.  It  was  the  home  of  the  Horites,  who 
emerge  at  the  dawn  of  human  history.  It  has  been 
supposed  that  the  name  "Horites"  means  "cave- 
dwellers,"  but  it  may  also  signify  "  the  white  race." 
Professor  Maspero  identifies  it  with  Khar,  the 
Egyptian  name  for  Southern  Palestine. 

Sometime  after  Jacob  had  fled  to  Paddan-aram 
from  the  anger  of  his  brother,  Esau  left  Isaac  his 
father  and  made  his  home  in  MountSeir.  Eventually 
his  descendants  dispossessed1  the  Horites  of  Mount 
Seir,  gaining  possession  of  the  country  both  by  war 
and  by  marriage  with  the  inhabitants,  and  the  result 
of  intermarriage  was  the  mixed  race  known  as  the 
Edomites.  Their  kino-s  reigned  in  the  land  of 
Edom  at  the  time  when  the  Children  of  Israel  were 
in  Egypt.  When  the  Hebrews  at  length  escaped 
from  Egypt  and  reached  the  borders  of  Edom,  they 
found  that  the  fierce  fires  of  Esau's  anger  still 
burned  in  the  hearts  of  his  descendants,  and  neither 
the  king  nor  the  people  of  Edom  would  listen  to 
their  request  for  permission  to  pass  through  Edom, 
on  their  way  to  the  Promised  Land,  although  they 
offered  to  pay  for  both  food  and  water  which  they 
might  consume  (Deut.  ii.,  4-8),  as  they  passed 
through.      In  order  not  to  wage  war  with  a  kindred 

1  Deut.  ii.,  12 


Edom  and  Petra  61 

people  the  Children  of  Israel  turned  back  from  the 
borders  of  Edom  and  marched  southward  through 
the   desert   down    the   Arabah,    between   the  cliffs 
of  the  Tih  on  the  west  and  the  range  of  Edom  on 
the  east,  until  they  reached  the  Red  Sea,  when  they 
turned   to  the    left.     They  rounded  the    southern 
end  of  the  mountains  of  Edom  and  then  marched 
north   along  the  eastern  border  of  Edom  toward 
Moab.     This  churlish  refusal  of  the  Edomites  was 
never    forgotten    by    the    Israelites ;    though    the 
Edomites  were  regarded  as  brethren   by  the  law, 
and  were  allowed  certain  privileges  beyond  some 
other  nations,   the  hostility  of  the  two  peoples  to 
each  other  disfigures  all  their  mutual  relations,  until 
the  Edomites  disappear  forever  from  history.     The 
Edomites  were  conquered  by  David  (2  Sam.  viii., 
14),   Jehosaphat,   and   Amaziah   (2   Chr.  xxv.,  11). 
In  the  time  of  Ahaz,  when  Pekah  and  Rezin  made 
war  against  Judah,  the  Edomites  invaded  the  land 
and  carried  off  captives,  and  a  century  and  a  half 
later  when   Nebuchadnezzar  (587  b.  c.  )   besieged 
Jerusalem,  the  Edomites  joined  in  the  taking  and 
sacking  the  city,  and  appropriated  a  portion  of  its 
territory.      Israel's   prophets  never  spared  Edom. 
Joel  predicts  its  desolation,  Amos  denounces  judg- 
ment upon  it,  but  foretells  the  ultimate  incorpora- 
tion of  the  remnant  of  Edom  with  Israel.     Jeremiah 
makes    it    the    subject    of    one    of    his    minatory 
poems.     Obadiah  speaks  of  little  else  but  the  cru- 
elty of  Edom  to   Israel,  and  the  certainty  that  the 
Edomites  will  be  destroyed  in  spite  of  their  rocky 


62  The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

fastnesses,  their  numerous  allies,  and  their  far- 
famed  wisdom.  Ezekiel  declares  the  vengeance  of 
Jehovah  that  awaits  it,  and  Malachi  pronounces 
that  its  overthrow  is  to  be  perpetual. 

The  Greeks  modified  the  name  Edom  and  called 
the  country  Idumea,  and  its  people  Idumeans. 
But  it  does  not  appear  that  the  Greeks  ever  founded 
any  colonies  south  of  Madeba  and  the  Arnon.  If 
they  did  their  remains  have  yet  to  be  discovered 
and  identified. 

About  the  time  of  Alexander  the  Great,  an 
Arabian  tribe  pushed  up  from  the  desert,  into  the 
highlands  of  Edom,  and  completely  supplanted 
what  remained  of  the  Edomites.  This  tribe  or 
tribes  were  known  as  Nabateans,  or  Nabatheans.1 
Settling  down  in  Edom  they  devoted  themselves 
partly  to  agriculture,  and  partly  to  commerce. 
About  ioo  b.  c.  they  had  become  a  powerful  king- 
dom, and  their  influence  extended  all  round  Syria, 
from  Damascus,  which  fell  into  their  hands  89  b.  c, 
to  Gaza,  and  far  into  the  centre  of  Arabia.  Their 
inscriptions  are  being  found  all  over  Eastern  Pales- 
tine, in  the  heart  of  Arabia,  and  as  far  west  as 
Italy,  proving  the  extent  of  their  trade  connections 
and  influence.  A  little  more  than  half  a  century 
before  the  Christian  Era,  the  "  King  of  Arabia" 
intervened  in  Jewish  affairs.  He  issued  from  his 
palace  at  Petra,  at  the  head  of  fifty  thousand  men, 
horse  and  foot,  entered  Jerusalem,  and  uniting  with 

'Their  derivation  from  Nebajoth,  the  eldest  son  of  Ishmael,  Gen.  xxv., 
17,  is  at  best  problematical. 


Edom  and  Petra  63 

the  disaffected  Jews  besieged  Aristobulus  the  King 
in  the  Temple,  and  was  only  driven  off  by  the  ad- 
vance of  the  Romans.  An  Idumean,  Antipater, 
was  made  procurator  of  Judea  by  Julius  Caesar ; 
and  Herod,  son  of  Antipater,  was  created  King 
of  Judea.  In  the  time  of  Paul  "  an  ethnarch  under 
Aretas  the  King  held  the  city  of  the  Damascenes  " 
(2  Cor.  xi.,  32,  and  Acts  ix.,  23). 

Aretas  IV.  seems  to  have  reigned  from  9  b.  c.  to 
40  a.  d.,  over  the  Nabatheans.  The  relations  of 
the  Romans  and  Nabatheans  during  the  first 
Christian  century  have  yet  to  be  dug  from  the 
records  of  the  past,  but  inscriptions  make  it  almost 
certain  that  their  boundary  against  the  Romans  in 
65  a.  d.,  perhaps  also  96  a.  d.,  lay  north  of  Bosra 
and  Salkhat,  which  were  still  Nabathean  cities. 
But  in  106  a.  d.,  Trajan,  by  the  hands  of  Cornelius 
Palma,  Governor  of  Syria,  brought  the  whole 
Nabathean  kingdom  into  the  Empire,  and  created 
out  of  it  the  new  province  of  Arabia  with  Bosra  as 
its  capital.  The  Roman  dominion  relaxed  with  the 
decline  of  the  Roman  Empire,  and  into  the  aban- 
doned cities  the  Arabs  of  the  desert  drove  their 
flocks.  There  have  been  no  other  dwellers  in 
them  for  more  than  a  thousand  years.  The  ruins 
of  Jerash,  Amman,  and  Madeba,  the  grass-grown 
Roman  roads  of  these  mountains  of  Edom,  prove 
beyond  a  peradventure  that  no  dwellers  in  cities, 
except  the  Crusaders,  and  that  only  for  a  fitful 
century,  have  occupied  these  highlands  since  the 
days  of  the  Romans. 


64  The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

Petra,  the  Rock  City,  has  been  to  these  regions 
and  these  peoples  what  Rome  was  to  the  Romans, 
and  Jerusalem  to  the  Jews.  Horites,  Edomites, 
Nabatheans,  and  Romans  have  all  rejoiced  and 
boasted  in  the  possession  of  this  unique  stronghold, 
and  most  remarkable  city  of  antiquity.  If  the 
name  "  Horites"  refers,  as  many  have  contended, 
to  the  fact  that  its  owners  were  "  cave  "  or  "  rock 
dwellers "  and  was  derived  from  their  mode  of 
life  in  Mount  Seir,  then  there  can  be  little  doubt 
but  that  what  we  know  as  Petra  was  one  of  their 
earliest  homes  and  strongholds.  Even  if  we  can 
never  find  a  trace  of  the  Horites  themselves,  the 
natural  features  of  the  locality,  the  brook  and 
stronghold,  like  the  Nile  in  Egypt,  prove  it  to  be 
the  natural  dwelling-place  of  man.  There  is  no 
other  location  in  all  the  Land  of  Seir  that  can  be 
reckoned  a  rival  to  it. 

Like  the  region,  the  name  of  the  city  has 
changed  from  age  to  age.  Under  the  Edomites  it 
was  called  Sela,  "the  Rock,"  the  same  in  Hebrew 
as  Petra  in  Greek.  Under  this  name  it  is  men- 
tioned twice  in  the  Old  Testament,  that  is,  in  2 
Kings  xiv.,  7,  when  it  was  captured  by  Amaziah, 
and  in  Isaiah  xvi.,  1  ;  but  the  revisers  have  placed 
Sela  in  the  text  at  Isaiah  xlii.,  11,  and  at  three 
other  places.1  The  natural  features  of  the  city 
answer  the  requirements  in  every  particular.  Ama- 
ziah (2  Chr.  xxv.,  12)  would  have  no  difficulty  in 
throwing  ten  thousand  of  the  Children  of  Seir  from 

1  Judges  i.,  36  ;   2  Chr.  xxv.,  12  ;    Obad.,  3. 


Edom  and  Petra  65 

the  top  of  the  city  (see  photograph,  Deir),  and  it 
is  natural  to  suppose  that  he  would  have  made  this 
exhibition  of  justice  or  revenge  in  the  most  promi- 
nent and  public  spot  of  the  national  capital.  The 
reference  in  Obadiah  3  to  those  dwelling  "  in  the 
clefts  of  the  rock,"  fits  literally  the  thousands 
within  the  city  of  Petra  who  made  their  homes  in 
the  side  valleys  that  cut  the  wall-like  mountains  on 
every  side. 

It  was,  most  probably,  in  the  days  of  the  Naba- 
theans  that  Petra  became  the  central  point  to 
which  the  caravans  from  the  interior  of  Arabia, 
Persia,  and  India  came  laden  with  all  the  precious 
commodities  of  the  East,  and  from  which  these 
commodities  were  distributed  through  Egypt,  Pal- 
estine, and  Syria,  and  all  the  countries  bordering 
on  the  Mediterranean,  for  even  Tyre  and  Sidon 
derived  many  of  their  precious  wares  and  dyes 
from  Petra.  It  was,  at  that  time,  the  Suez  of  this 
part  of  the  world,  the  place  where  the  East  and 
West  met  to  trade  and  barter.  It  was  also,  in  fact, 
a  great  "  safe  deposit,"  into  which  the  great  cara- 
vans poured,  after  the  vicissitudes  and  dangers  of 
the  desert.  Its  wealth  became  fabulous,  and  it  is 
not  without  some  P;ood  reason  that  the  first  rock 
structure  one  sees  in  Petra,  guarding  the  mysteri- 
ous entrance,  is  still  called  "  Pharaoh's  Treasury." 
It  must  have  been  the  Nabatheans  who  developed 
the  natural  beauties  of  the  situation,  and  increased 
the  rock-cut  dwellings  and  tombs  to  the  almost  in- 
terminable extent  in  which  they  are  found  to-day. 

VOL.   II. 5. 


66  The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

While  1 06  a.  d.  is  the  date  when  the  Romans 
seized  the  country,  and  made  Petra  the  capital  of 
this  division  of  Palestine,  they  did  not  apparently 
attempt  any  extermination  of  the  inhabitants,  but 
extended  the  same  mild  sway  as  that  exercised 
over  the  Greek  cities  of  the  Decapolis.  And,  just  as 
the  cities  of  the  Decapolis  continued  their  life  as 
Greek  cities  under  the  Roman  sway,  so  Petra  seems 
to  have  continued  her  Nabathean  life  under  the  Ro- 
man eagles.  Rome  has  left  us  her  tribute  to  the 
greatness  of  the  Edomite  city  in  the  fact  that  she 
stretched  two  Roman  roads  into  it  from  the 
north,  and  that  among  the  almost  shapeless  masses 
in  the  floor  of  the  "  Rock  City"  can  be  traced  the 
ruins  of  an  arch  of  triumph,  temples,  a  forum, 
and  other  accessories  of  Roman  civic  life.  When 
Rome's  power  waned,  and  the  fortified  camps  on 
the  edge  of  the  desert  were  abandoned,  no  doubt 
her  soldiers  were  withdrawn  also  from  such  cities 
as  Petra.  Then  the  Romanized  Nabatheans  or 
Nabatheanized  Romans  held  their  own  against  the 
desert  hordes  as  long  as  they  could,  and  went 
down,  probably,  about  the  same  time  as  the  cities 
of  the  Decapolis.  From  that  time  onward  Petra's 
history  becomes  more  and  more  obscure,  and  for 
more  than  a  thousand  years  Edom's  ancient  capi- 
tal was  completely  lost  to  the  civilized  world.  Until 
its  discovery  by  Burckhardt,  in  1812,  its  site  seems 
to  have  been  unknown  except  to  the  wandering 
Bedawin. 

During  all  those  centuries,  Jews  and  Christians 


Edom  and  Petra  67 

and  scholars  of  all  civilized  lands  clung  to  the 
ancient  name  of  Petra  for  the  city,  and  Arabia 
Petrasa  for  the  whole  region.  But  when  the  long- 
lost  city  again  comes  to  light,  the  nomad  dwellers 
seem  to  have  lost  the  records  of  the  Eclomite,  the 
Nabathean,  and  the  Roman  occupation,  and  refer 
everything  in  the  region  to  the  days  of  Moses  and 
Aaron. 

According  to  the  Koran  and  its  commentators, 
it  was  here  that  Moses  struck  the  rock,  and  the 
same    fountain    still    flows    under    his  name,   from 
the  village  of  Elji,  an  hour  above  our  camp  ;  and 
the  valley  is  called  Wady  Musa.      No  one  in  all  this 
region  knows  it   by  any  other  name.      The  "  Sik," 
or  entrance,  is  called  "  Sik  Wady  Musa."      All  the 
modern  dwellers  in  that  region,  and  the  tradition  is 
centuries  old,  say  that  "as  surely  as  Jebel  Haroun 
is  so  called  from  being  the   burial-place  of  Aaron, 
so  this  Sik  is  the  cleft  made  by  the  rod  of  Moses 
when  he  brought  the  stream  through  into  the  val- 
ley beyond."     While  Petra  had  been  in  our  minds 
during  all  these  years,  our  permit  from  Damascus 
was  to  visit  Wady  Musa  ;  our  dragoman  and  cara- 
van were  hired  for  the  same  point ;  in  all  our  con- 
versations   with    the    people    of   that    country    we 
never  made  use  of  any  other  term  but  Wady  Musa. 
And  we  found  to  our  amusement  and  surprise  that 
perhaps    not    a    single    tent    or    house   in   all   that 
mountain  region  was  without  a  "  Moses"  among  its 
children   or  old  people.      Moses  has  taken   posses- 
sion   of  the  reo-ion.       Notwithstanding  the   attach- 


68  The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

ment  of  the  name  of  Moses  to  the  locality,  modern 
biblical  scholars  and  explorers  generally,  with  the 
distinguished  exception  of  Dean  Stanley,  reject 
the  tradition  that  Petra  is  Kadesh-Barnea. 

The  "Horites"  and  "Mount  Seir "  carry  us 
back  to  the  early  chapters  in  Genesis,  "  Edom  " 
touches  the  history  of  the  Children  of  Israel,  from 
the  days  of  the  wilderness  to  Malachi,  "Idumea" 
binds  its  history  to  the  New  Testament  times, 
"Petra"  links  the  region  to  the  dominion  of  the 
Romans,  and  "  Wady  Musa,"  neglecting  all  that 
lies  between,  brines  the  Hebrew  lawgiver  and  the 
earliest  of  the  Hebrew  prophets  into  closest  con- 
tact with  the  Prophet  of  Islam  and  the  Moham- 
medan religion.  What  we  have  yet  to  find  is  the 
history  of  the  third,  fourth,  and  fifth  centuries 
after  Christ.  Madeba,  Kerak,  and  Shobek,  have 
yielded  up  a  part  of  their  secrets,  and  Christian 
scholars  have  been  surprised  at  the  extent  and 
strength  of  Christianity  in  these  regions.  There 
are  not  lacking  suggestions  of  Petra's  greatness, 
but  the  veil  of  mystery  has  not  yet  been  lifted. 


CHAPTER   IV 

INTO    PETRA 

ON  page  325  (Appendix  III)  is  a  list  of  the  tra- 
vellers who  have  entered  Petra  during  the 
nineteenth  century,  or  at  least  those  who 
have  left  some  record  of  their  visits.  Nearly  all 
entered  by  stealth,  more  than  half  were  driven  out 
after  a  hurried  glance  at  the  wonders  and  myster- 
ies of  the  place.  Not  more  than  three  or  four 
were  allowed  to  spend  a  night  within  the  ruins, 
and  nearly  all  paid  well  for  the  privilege.  We 
were  certainly  the  first  Americans  to  enter  openly, 
to  pitch  our  tents  for  five  days,  and  to  float  the 
American  flag  unmolested  within  the  ancient  city. 
The  story  and  record  of  the  unsuccessful  attempts 
to  reach  the  site  would  make  a  very  long  chapter. 
Gray  Hill,  Esq.,  of  Jerusalem  and  Liverpool,  made 
four  unsuccessful  attempts  in  1890,  1891,  1893,  and 
1895,  and  succeeded  at  the  fifth  attempt,  in  1896. 
Hull,  Kitchener,  and  Armstrong,  in  1883,  paid  a 
bakhshish  of  £34,  English  money,  for  six  persons  to 
get  a  hasty  view  of  Petra  and  Mount  Hor.  Almost 
every  traveller  of  the  past  century  has  come  back 
with    stories    of    the    iniquity   and    perfidy   of   the 

69 


yo  The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

people  of  that  region.  Thanks  to  the  Waly  of 
Damascus,  with  the  co-operation  of  the  officials  in 
that  region,  by  keeping  a  firm  hand  over  the  mem- 
bers of  our  caravan,  and  by  treating  all  we  met 
with  fairness  and  politeness,  we  entered  and  re- 
turned without  any  untoward  event,  beyond  re- 
buking some  of  our  own  men  for  presuming  on 
our  strength  and  prestige  in  their  financial  dealings 
with  the  people  of  El j i. 

When  we  awoke  on  March  ist,  it  was  raining 
soft  showers  on  our  tents,  but  by  7.45  a.m.  the 
clouds  broke  away,  and  by  nine  o'clock  our  whole 
caravan  was  in  motion,  and  they  passed  with  diffi- 
culty among  the  oleanders,  as  we  approached  the  nar- 
row defile.  The  day  before  we  had  entered  on  foot, 
and  in  our  pleasurable  excitement  had  paid  little 
attention  to  the  pools  of  water,  the  heaps  of  debris 
left  by  the  winter  floods  in  the  narrow  gorge,  the 
masses  of  oleander  and  wild  fig  trees,  which  almost 
closed  the  defile  at  points,  but  when  we  attempted 
to  ride  through,  and  lead  our  heavily  laden  mules, 
with  their  bulky  loads  of  tents  and  canteen,  we 
found  it  no  easy  task,  and  realized  the  wisdom  of 
having  camped  outside  on  our  arrival.  At  a  dozen 
places  along  the  defile  we  saw  the  muddy  line  of 
the  winter  floods  which,  dammed  by  heaps  of  rocks 
and  stones  caught  by  the  trees  and  bushes,  had 
risen  ten,  fifteen,  and  twenty  feet  up  the  sides  of 
the  gorge,  before  the  temporary  barrier  had  given 
way  and  allowed  the  imprisoned  waters  to  rush  on- 
ward.     It  was  easy  to  imagine  that  a  sudden  heavy 


Into  Petra  75 

shower  in  the  winter  months  might  close  this  exit 
to  any  who  might  be  camping  inside.  We  had 
been  assured  at  many  points  of  our  journey  that  we 
could  not  get  our  loaded  animals  through  the 
o-orge  ;  but  by  rolling  boulders  out  of  the  way,  fill- 
ing in  pools  here  and  there,  paying  no  attention  to 
the  tearing  of  tent  wrappings  and  the  banging  of 
our  canteen  and  other  boxes  against  the  rocks,  we 
succeeded  in  getting  all  the  caravan  safely  as  far  as 
the  "  Treasury  of  Pharaoh,"  and  then  paid  no  at- 
tention to  them,  for  beyond  that  all  was  easy. 

Having  the  whole  day  before  us  for  the  short 
distance  and  the  setting  up  of  our  camp,  we  moved 
leisurely,  using  the  cameras  more  frequently  than 
ever,  and  endeavored  to  verify  many  of  the  state- 
ments of  preceding  travellers. 

The  length  of  the  Sik  or  defile,  not  all  of  which 
is  seen  on  Laborde's  plan,  has  been  variously  esti- 
mated, but  after  passing  through  it  three  times  and 
timing  our  passage,  it  is  safe  to  say  that  from 
the  fallen  arch  to  the  Treasury  of  Pharaoh— which 
is  the  real  Sik— it  is  about  one  and  a  half  miles 
long,  or  about  twenty  minutes'  walk.1  If  we  add 
another  ten  minutes  from  the  Treasury  to  the  Am- 
phitheatre which  marks  the  beginning  of  the  city, 
then  the  defile  is  two  miles  long.  It  would  require 
much  time  to  plot  it  accurately,  but  the  general 
contour  is  a  wide  semicircular  swing  from  the  right 
to  the  left,  with  innumerable  short  bends,  having 
sharp  curves  and  corners  in  its  general  course. 

1  G.  L.  Robinson  in  1900  made  it  twenty-two  minutes. 


76  The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

The  width  of  the  Sik  varies  from  twelve  feet,  at 
its  narrowest  point,  to  thirty-five  or  forty  in  other 
places.  Where  the  gloomy  walls  actually  over- 
hang the  roadway,  and  almost  shut  out  the  blue 
ribbon  of  sky,  it  seems  narrower  ;  and  perhaps  at 
many  places  above  the  stream  the  walls  do  come 
closer  than  twelve  feet.  (See  Petra,  gorge  of  the 
Sik.)  Photographs  of  these  narrower  and  darker 
portions  of  the  defile  are  impossible.  Only  where 
the  walls  recede,  and  one  side  catches  the  sunlight, 
was  it  possible  to  secure  any  views  that  would  re- 
veal the  actual  beauties  of  the  place.  Then  no 
camera  could  be  arranged  to  take  in  the  whole 
height  of  the  canyon.  The  photograph,  page  jj 
(Pharaoh's  Treasury  from  the  gorge),  is  a  fair 
sample  of  the  effect  produced  by  the  winding  sur- 
faces of  the  walls  during  fully  seven  tenths  of  the 
distance  through  the  gorge. 

Travellers  have  estimated  the  height  of  these 
perpendicular  side  cliffs  to  be  from  two  hundred  to 
one  thousand  feet.1  Heights,  like  distances,  in  this 
clear  desert  air,  are  deceptive,  but  after  many  tests 
and  observations  we  are  prepared  to  say  that  at 
places  they  are  almost  sheer  for  three  hundred  to 
four  hundred  feet.  This  represents  the  canyon 
proper,  for  the  rounded  upper  portions  do  not  cut 
much  figure  under  the  circumstances.  The  face  of 
the  cliff  at  Pharaoh's  Treasury  must  be  well  up  to 
two  hundred  feet  in  height,  and  the  masses  above 
the  Sik  generally  are   higher,   as  we   saw  clearly 

1  Hornstein,  1895:   "  80-200  feet."     Stephens,  1837  :   "  500-1000  feet." 


First  View  of  the  Treasury  from  the  Gorge 


Into  Petra  81 

from  the  High  Place,  which  is  nearly  four  hundred 
feet  above  the  floor  of  the  valley  in  front  of  the 
Treasury.  The  "  View  from  inside  Pharaoh's 
Treasury,"  of  the  Sik,  gives  an  excellent  idea  of 
the  opening  as  seen  by  one  going  out  of  the  city, 
though  here  also  the  camera  fails  to  get  in  the  full 
height.  The  visible  portion  of  the  cleft  is  fully 
one  hundred  feet  high. 

The  floor  of  the  Sik  was  once  paved  from  end 
to  end  with  huge  blocks  of  stone  about  eighteen 
inches  square.  These  appear  in  situ  at  several 
points,  and  are  covered  by  debris  at  others,  but  in 
the  narrower  portions  the  scouring  of  the  winter 
floods  has  torn  them  all  away.  Stephens  in  1837 
entered  Petra  from  the  south  over  the  rocky  ram- 
part, and  when  he  came  to  the  Treasury  he  saw  a 
full  stream  of  water  crushing  through  the  narrow 
entrance  and  filling  up  the  whole  mouth  of  the  Sik. 
With  difficulty  he  forded  this,  at  times  on  the 
shoulders  of  his  guide,  and  made  his  way  into  the 
defile  for  a  short  distance.  How  the  ancients  man- 
aged these  storm-bursts  cannot  now  be  told,  but 
the  waters  of  the  fountains  in  the  valleys  above 
were  all  lifted  out  of  the  floor  of  this  gorge  and 
carried  along  either  side  of  the  ravine  in  aque- 
ducts, cut  from  soft  sandstone,  which  are  still 
in  evidence  at  a  hundred  places.  On  the  right 
side  of  the  defile  are  the  remains  of  a  more 
modern  aqueduct,  which  is  plainly  Roman.  A 
clay  pipe  about  eight  inches  in  diameter  was 
let    into    the    face    of    the  cliff,    and   secured    by 


82  The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

Roman  cement.  So  strong  and  durable  was  this 
cement  that  even  to-day  the  pipe  is  detached 
with  difficulty.  While  the  floor  of  the  valley  drop- 
ped lower  and  lower,  the  pipe  rose  higher  and 
higher  above  the  roadway,  bending  with  every 
turn  of  the  sloping  walls,  and  below  the  Treasury 
it  was  led  around  the  face  of  tombs  and  temples,  in 
and  out  of  rocky  ravines,  and  ultimately  it  emptied 
its  waters  somewhere  in  front  of  the  Corinthian 
tomb,  fully  two  miles  away  from  the  point  where 
it  received  its  supply  from  the  brook.  It  is  plain, 
therefore,  that  the  waters  of  the  Fountain  of  Moses 
were  led  carefully  into  the  city  itself,  and  not 
allowed  to  be  polluted  and  lost  in  the  floor  of  the 
defile  and  valley  below.  In  all  our  later  explora- 
tions we  saw  abundant  evidence  of  the  existence 
of  running  water  all  about  the  city. 

The  structure  of  this  pipe  and  its  method  of 
jointing  were  so  interesting  from  an  engineering 
standpoint  that  it  is  worth  mentioning,  as  our  best 
modern  ideas  on  such  matters  are  scarcely  an  ad- 
vance upon  this  old  piece  of  work.  The  sections 
of  the  pipe  were  about  eighteen  or  twenty  inches 
long,  and  had  double  spigot  ends.  They  were 
made  of  a  fine-grained  clay,  and  probably  formed 
in  a  wicker  mould,  with  the  hand,  by  placing  ring 
after  ring  of  a  continuous  spiral  of  clay  inside  the 
mould,  and  then  roughly  smoothing  the  inner  sur- 
face, and  pressing  the  rings  together.  This  pro- 
duced a  series  of  slight  riffles  on  the  inside,  which 
were  reproduced  in  the  formation  of  the  calcareous 


85  Entrance    of   the   Sik,    from   the    Interior 

of  the   Treasury 


Into  Petra 


87 


deposit  with  which  the  inside  of  the  pipe  has  be- 
come encrusted.  The  thickness  of  the  clay  did  not 
vary  much  from  a  quarter  of  an  inch  at  any  place 
in  the  pipe,  and  all  those  sections  which  we  could 
examine  were  carefully  made  and  as  carefully  fire- 
baked.  The  pipes  were  joined  together  with  a 
double  sleeve,  one  outside  and  the  other  inside, 
which  must  have  been  put  on  the  pipes  in  halves, 
the  inner  one  being  placed  in  position  through  the 
end  of  the  pipe  after  the  outer  one  had  been  se- 
cured in  place. 

While  this  method  of  construction  undoubtedly 
constricted  the  lumen  of  the  pipe,  a  very  strong 
and  secure  key-joint  was  the  result,  which  made  it 
most  difficult  to  break,  even  after  all  these  years. 
This  key  is  shown  in  the  darkly-shaded  portion  of 
the  drawing  of  a  cross  section  of  a  pipe  given  below. 

The  constriction  produced  by  the  inner  collar 
may  also  explain  the  regular  and  even  coating  of 
deposit  from  this 
hard  water,  which  is 
practically  uniform  in 
thickness  on  all  por- 
tions of  the  interior 
of  the  pipe,  and  is 
thicker  and  many 
times  stronger  than 
the  pipe  itself.  The 
deposit  was  not  as  thick  on  the  collar  itself,  as  on 
the  pipe  between  the  collars,  a  result  probably  pro- 
duced by  the  retardation  of  the  current  of  water. 


" 


CROSS  SECTION  THROUGH  CLAY 
WATER-PIPE-PETRA. 


88  The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

Such  is  the  Sik,  the  famous  gorge  which  in 
ancient  times  was  the  chief,  if  not  the  only  usual 
approach  to  the  strangest  city  in  this  region.  It 
was  the  great  glory  and  the  strength  of  Petra,  and  is 
still  unique  among  the  sights  of  the  earth. 

When  we  stepped  again  from  the  narrow  defile 
into  the  open  space  at  Pharaoh's  Treasury,  we  were 
hardly  prepared  for  the  vision  of  beauty  that  burst 
upon  us.  A  glance  at  the  plan  (p.  97)  will  show 
that  the  Treasury  is  almost  directly  in  front  of  the 
end  of  the  Sik,  and  that  the  mountain  mass  is  cut 
again  at  right  angles  to  the  Sik,  by  two  transverse 
ravines,  which  form  with  the  Sik  a  perfect  cross. 
The  ravine  to  the  right  is  an  inaccessible  one,  that 
to  the  left  we  named  the  Fairy  Dell  (see  p.  165). 
The  morning  showers  had  started  a  thousand  little 
rills  of  sparkling  water,  white  fleecy  clouds  floated 
in  the  blue  sky  above,  and  down  this  Fairy  Dell 
came  the  floods  of  the  morning  sunlight.  We 
reached  the  spot  at  a  moment  when  all  nature 
seemed  conspiring  to  enhance  the  thrilling  effect  of 
the  scene.  The  surrounding  cliff,  more  than  five 
hundred  feet  from  side  to  side,  cut  and  fashioned 
by  the  hand  of  time,  the  frost,  the  heat,  and  the 
tempest,  its  enchanting  forms  dripping  with  rain- 
drops, which  caught  and  seemed  to  hold  the  slant- 
ing sunbeams  ;  all  these  formed  a  matchless  setting 
for  the  gem  of  Pharaoh's  Treasury,  carved  like  a 
cameo  at  its  base.  If  the  combination  of  the  sun- 
light, the  coloring,  and  the  work  of  time  on  the  cliff 
was  passing  beautiful,  then  that  of  the  sunlight,  the 


»9 


Gorge  of  the  Sik  beyond  the  Treasury 


Into  Petra  93 

coloring,  and  the  work  of  the  hand  of  man  as  seen 
in  the  carving  at  its  base  surpasses  the  powers  of 
language  to  express  the  emotions  produced  by  it  at 
such  a  time.  Descriptions  of  the  width  and  height 
and  the  details  of  this  monument  of  antiquity  may 
enable  many  to  reproduce  for  themselves  some  of 
its  striking  features.  The  beautiful  photographs 
on  pages  79  and  83  will  add  still  more  to  the 
pleasure  of  those  who  have  never  seen  it,  but 
neither  language,  measurements,  nor  pictures  can 
give  more  than  a  bald  idea  of  the  temple  and  its 
charmino-  surroundings. 

Men  may  differ  in  their  discussions  as  to  the 
purity  of  the  architecture,  its  age,  its  purpose,  but 
measured  by  the  impressions  it  is  sure  to  produce 
upon  every  one  who  visits  the  spot,  it  must  surely 
rank  anions  the  first  of  the  beautiful  monuments  of 
antiquity.  John  Stephens,  coming  direct  from  the 
banks  of  the  Nile,  and  writing  years  afterward, 
said  :  "  Even  now  that  I  have  returned  to  the  pur- 
suits and  thoueht-enoTOssina-  incidents  of  a  life  in 
the  busiest  city  of  the  world,  often  in  situations  as 
widely  different  as  light  from  darkness,  I  see  before 
me  the  facade  of  that  temple  ;  neither  the  Colis- 
seum  at  Rome,  grand  and  interesting  as  it  is,  nor 
the  ruins  of  the  Acropolis  at  Athens,  nor  the  Pyra- 
mids, nor  the  mighty  temples  of  the  Nile,  are  so 
often  present  in  my  memory."  The  secret  of  its 
magic  seems  to  be  the  combination  of  one  of  man's 
best  efforts  with  the  powers  and  beauties  of 
nature. 


94  The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

Located  at  the  end  of  a  long  and  difficult  jour- 
ney, whether  one  comes  from  the  valley  of  the 
Euphrates,  from  Sinai,  from  Egypt,  or  from  any 
part  of  Syria,  east  or  west  of  the  Jordan  ;  set  in  the 
mountains  of  mystery,  at  the  gateway  of  the  most 
original  form  of  entrance  to  any  city  on  our  planet  ; 
carved  with  matchless  skill,  after  the  conception  of 
some  master  mind  ;  gathering  the  beauties  of  the 
stream,  the  peerless  hues  of  the  sandstone,  the 
towering  cliffs,  the  impassible  ravine,  the  brilliant 
atmosphere,  and  the  fragment  of  the  blue  sky 
above, — it  must  have  been  enduring  in  its  effect  on 
the  human  mind.  We  saw  it  in  its  desolation,  a 
thousand  years  after  its  owners  had  fled,  after  a 
cycle  of  storm,  tempest,  flood,  and  earthquake  had 
done  their  worst,  aided  by  the  puny  hand  of  the 
wandering  Arab,  to  mar  and  disfigure  it,  and  we 
confess  that  its  impression  upon  our  hearts  and 
memories  is  deathless.  Again  and  again  we  re- 
turned to  the  spot,  each  time  to  discover  some- 
thing new,  and  to  carry  away  some  new  reverence 
for  the  hearts  that  thus  communed  with  nature, 
and  toiled  to  produce  what  would  continue  forever 
to  deeply  delight  and  impress  the  human  soul. 

The  open  space  in  front  of  the  "  Treasury  "  is 
not  more  than  one  hundred  feet  wide,  and  hence  it 
was  difficult  to  secure  a  front  view  that  would  take 
in  the  whole  height.  The  photograph  (No.  i )  con- 
sequently does  not  show  the  full  height  of  the  tem- 
ple. Floods  at  different  times  have  carried  the 
rocks  and  soil  up  into  its  portico,  so  that  the  olean- 


«     y« 


Pwramidf" 

v  \\      Hig-n  Place 


Into  Petra  99 

ders  now  touch  the  bases  of  the  columns.      The 
height   of  the   cutting   [n   the  rock  for  the  temple 
facade  is  about  ninety  feet,  and  one  can  get  a  com- 
parative idea  of  its  size  by  noticing  the  two  horse- 
men among  the  oleanders,  and  the  figure  on  the  top 
of  the  broken  column.     The  carving  and  lines  on 
the  architrave  are  nearly  as  clear  and  sharp  as  they 
were  when  fresh  from  the  chisel  thousands  of  years 
ago.       The   figures  in   both   the  upper  and  lower 
story  seem  to  have  been  done  in  a  softer  stratum, 
and  have  no  doubt  been  marred  and  mutilated  by 
Mohammedan    iconoclasts.       The    upper   story    is 
solid,  and  the  urn  and  ball  over  the  central  dome  is 
the  fabled  depository  of  Pharaoh's  treasures,  and 
is  the  point  at  which  the  modern  Arabs  drive  their 
bullets  in   the  hope  of  shattering   it.      It   will    be 
noted  in  Photograph  No.  2  that  the  two  side  sec- 
tions have  the  pyramidal  extension  which  joins  to 
the  cliff  above.      Within  the  porch  there  are  three 
doors,  each  opening  into  rock-hewn  chambers.    The 
central  room  is  almost  a  perfect  cube  of  forty  feet 
each  way.      It  shows  no  sign  of  decoration  of  any 
kind,  only  the  beautiful  natural  colors  of  the  sand- 
stone.    The  two  side  chambers  are  entered  from 
the  porch  and  do  not  communicate  with  the  central 
one.      They  are  smaller  and  just  as  plain  in  every 
way.      Circular  windows  pierce  the  wall   over  the 
two  side  doors.      The  central  door  is  nearly  thirty 
feet  high  and  fifteen  feet  wide.     What  seem  like 
Roman  eagles  are  still  to  be  seen  over  the  two  side 
doorways. 


ioo         The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

Before  we  had  completed  our  examination  of  the 
Treasury,  the  clouds  sent  down  fresh  showers  of 
rain,  and  we  found  the  porch  an  excellent  shelter. 
We  had  allowed  our  riding  animals  to  go  on  into 
the  city  with  the  caravan,  but  we  were  joined  by 
three  Arabs — Musa  ibn  Sabbah,  who  afterwards 
became  very  useful  as  a  guide  ;  a  suspicious-look- 
ing specimen  called  Solomon,  and  a  rollicking  boy 
named  Rshood.  We  had  our  revolvers,  and  for 
more  than  one  reason  amused  ourselves  by  firing 
at  marks  chosen  in  the  opposite  cliff,  a  hundred 
and  fifty  or  two  hundred  feet  away.  Our  smoke- 
less powder,  singing  bullets,  and  the  empty  car- 
tridge shells  which  these  fellows  fought  over  were 
all  commented  upon  at  great  length  by  our  ragged 
spectators.  Solomon  carried  an  unusually  long 
weapon  of  antique  workmanship,  with  flint-lock 
and  a  wide  pan  for  the  powder.  After  we  had 
chipped  the  rocks  many  times  with  our  bullets,  we 
persuaded  him  to  try  at  the  mark  with  his  gun. 
He  produced  a  little  powder  from  his  ragged  cloth- 
ing, and  after  arranging  it  carefully  in  the  pan,  he 
raised  his  antique  weapon  and  pointed  it  toward 
the  mark.  Our  desire  to  see  the  gun  shoot  was 
tempered  by  the  fear  that  a  charge  of  good  pow- 
der would  surely  blow  the  weapon  to  pieces,  to  the 
sorrow  of  the  owner  and  all  who  watched  him.  But 
curiosity  overcame  our  scruples,  and  we  stood  near 
enough  to  see.  After  he  had  sighted  the  mark,  he 
pulled  the  trigger,  we  all  winked,  and — nothing  hap- 
pened.    When  we  opened  our  eyes,  Solomon  was 


; 


im 

> 


o 


> 


Into  Petra  103 

hanging  on  to  the  mark,  the  powder  was  sizzing  in 
the  pan,  and  continued  to  do  so  for  fully  a  second 
and  a  half,  burning  his  beard,  and  then  came  the 
explosion,  which  was  terrific.  Flames  and  smoke 
issued  from  the  muzzle,  while  the  breech  kicked 
like  a  mule,  and  Solomon  made  haste  to  extinguish 
his  smoking  beard,  and  condole  with  his  jaw,  which 
had  received  the  kick  of  the  weapon.  The  bullet 
flew  wide  of  the  mark,  and  we  were  relieved  to  find 
the  man  alive  and  unharmed.  We  then  tore  open 
some  shot-gun  cartridges  and  gave  him  the  powder 
and  shot,  as  a  reward  for  his  bravery  in  standing 
behind  such  a  gun.  We  also  charged  him  not  to 
use  more  than  half  as  much  of  our  powder  when  he 
reloaded. 

Wrhile  we  stood  and  talked  with  these  men,  we 
noted  two  facts  which  go  far  to  tell  the  story  of 
how  they  live,  and  the  poverty  and  insecurity  of 
the  region.  When  Solomon  proceeded  to  reload 
his  gun,  he  had  neither  rags  nor  paper  to  use  as 
wadding.  The  only  rags  in  the  region  were  those  on 
his  back,  and  paper  was  unknown.  So  after  pour- 
ing in  the  powder,  he  stooped  and  picked  up  some 
goat  droppings,  and  used  them  for  wadding  below 
and  above  the  shot.  This  we  afterwards  found  was 
the  universal  custom  in  those  parts.  We  noticed 
also  that  while  Solomon  had  a  gun  sling  of  common 
rope  by  which  he  carried  the  weapon  when  not  in 
use,  he  had  also  an  iron  chain  of  about  four  feet 
in  length  wound  round  the  stock  just  behind  the 
trieeer.      Seeing-  our  interest  in  this,  he  smiled  and 


104  The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

said  he  was  sure  we  did  not  know  the  meaning  of 
the  chain.  We  confessed  that  we  did  not ;  then 
he  went  on  to  tell  us  that  his  gun  was  about  his 
only  possession,  and  the  country  was  such  that 
he  never  let  go  of  it  by  day  or  by  night.  By  day 
the  rope  was  a  sufficient  guard,  but  every  night  be- 
fore sleeping  he  unwound  the  chain,  and  tied  the 
wretched  gun  to  his  left  arm,  lest  an  enemy  should 
come  and  steal  it  while  he  slept.  If  tied  by  a  rope, 
a  knife  would  easily  sever  that  bond,  but  tied  by 
a    chain    the   gun    was    safer !     This   was    one    of 

<_> 

the  modern  specimens  of  poverty  and  lawlessness 
dwelling  near  and  roaming  through  this  ancient 
seat  of  wealth  and  security  ! 

Toward  noon  the  showers  ceased  for  a  time,  and 
we  started  down  the  main  ravine  to  the  right  of  the 
Treasury.  From  the  Treasury  onward  the  side 
walls  are  not  so  hio-h  nor  so  close  together  as  in 
the  Sik  proper,  and  are  or  have  been  an  almost  un- 
interrupted series  of  rock-hewn  rooms  and  tombs. 
Many  of  these  are  inaccessible,  because  their  stair- 
ways are  worn  away  by  the  elements  or  broken 
down  by  the  rocks  falling  from  above.  Stanley 
well  called  it  the  "  Appian  Way  "  of  the  ancient  city. 
We  passed  the  amphitheatre,  and  a  thousand  other 
rock  cuttings,  and  made  our  way  to  the  camp, 
which  had  been  pitched  on  a  level  space  near 
the  ruins  of  the  triumphal  arch.  Here  we  could  un- 
pack in  earnest,  for  here  we  planned  to  rest  longer 
than  we  had  at  any  place  since  leaving  Beirut,  just 
twenty-five  days  before.      Our  men  went  for  barley 


.1  *•*■.* 


"•M. 


Into  Petra  109 

to  Elji,  an  hour  away  ;  a  shepherd  was  sent  for,  and 
arrangements  for  milk  and  the  purchase  of  a  sheep 
were  concluded.  After  a  luncheon  we  took  our  shot- 
guns and  went  for  a  preliminary  walk,  having  also 
in  mind  some  partridges,  to  add  to  our  larder  for 
the  Sabbath.  We  found  two  kinds  of  these  gamy 
birds  ;  the  large  variety  we  had  shot  all  the  way 
from  Banias  {Caccabis  chukar),  and  the  smaller 
rock  partridge  found  only  in  the  Jordan  Valley 
and  the  southern  wilderness  {Ammoperdrix  heyi). 
The  chukar,  called  "  hajl  "  elsewhere  in  Syria,  is 
here  known  as  the  "shinnar,"  and  Musa  and 
Rshood  assured  us  that  each  bird  was  "  as  large  as 
a  rooster 5' !  We  soon  bagged  enough  for  the 
Sabbath,  and  the  recurring  showers  drove  us  into 
one  of  the  rock-hewn  rooms  for  refuge. 

Here  we  saw  another  sight  and  learned  another 
lesson  from  our  ragged  companions.  While  we 
were  at  luncheon,  Musa  aimed  his  gun  at  a  black- 
bird and  wounded  it  so  badly  that  rollicking 
Rshood  caught  it,  and  when  we  sat  down  in  the 
cave  he  produced  the  wounded  bird  from  his 
bosom.  After  watching  them  try  to  kindle  a  fire 
with  the  steel  and  flint,  we  offered  a  match,  and 
soon  had  a  cheerful  little  blaze  to  sit  around. 
Rshood  then  took  out  his  knife  and  cut  the  throat 
of  the  blackbird,  and  began  a  process  of  cooking 
that  recalled  the  stories  we  had  heard  of  our  most 
remote  ancestors.  Instead  of  plucking  off  the 
feathers,  he  dangled  it  over  the  flames  until  he 
had  singed  away  everything  but  the  wing  feathers. 


no         The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

He  then  tore  off  the  head  and  extremities  of  the 
wings,  and  spitted  the  bird  on  a  stick.  After 
browning  it  considerably  on  the  outside,  he  tore  it 
open,  and  removed  a  part  of  the  entrails.  At  this 
point  he  needed  salt.  So,  balancing  the  spitted 
bird  near  the  fire,  he  went  to  the  inner  walls  of 
the  cave,  and  with  his  knife  scraped  off  some  of 
the  dirt  and  filth  containing  saltpetre.  This  he 
sprinkled  on  the  bird,  and  plastered  inside  of  it. 
Then  he  held  it  over  the  fire,  turning  it  and  tear- 
ing it  until  it  was  roasted  as  brown  and  as  juicy 
as  any  game  ought  to  be  !  His  fingers  and  teeth 
finished  the  process,  and  in  a  short  time  there  was 
not  an  atom  of  it  to  be  seen  ! 

When  we  returned  to  camp  we  found  the  lamb 
slaughtered,  the  oven  in  the  midst  of  the  flames, 
the  bread  on  the  way  to  baking,  and  everybody  in 
a  famous  eood  humor.  Towards  nio-ht  the  mules 
and  horses  were  all  taken  into  a  huge  rock  dwelling 
two  hundred  yards  away,  and  after  tightening  our 
tent  ropes,  and  ditching  round  the  camp,  we  lay 
down  to  sleep  in  Petra,  careless  of  the  beating 
rains  which  kept  up  for  nearly  half  the  night. 

The  next  morning  the  bed  of  the  Wady  Musa,  in 
front  of  our  tents,  which  had  been  dry  the  day  be- 
fore, was  occupied  by  a  fine  stream  of  pure  water, 
eight  or  ten  feet  wide,  and  several  inches  deep. 
By  noon,  however,  the  elastic  little  stream,  which 
doubtless  shortens  or  lengthens  with  each  shower, 
had  slackened  in  its  flow  and  disappeared  entirely 
among  the  rocks,  swallowed  by  the  thirsty  soil.     See 


> 


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Into  Petra  1 13 

photograph,  page  95,  "  Last  of  the  water."  In  an- 
other twenty-four  hours  we  had  to  walk  a  couple 
of  hundred  yards  up  the  bed  of  the  stream  for  our 
water  supply.  The  pure  water  from  the  sand- 
stone, which  was  filtered  and  aerated  by  nature, 
was  pleasant  to  drink,  after  our  experiences  with 
the  hard,  limestone  water,  often  badly  polluted, 
which  we  had  been  forced  to  use  up  to  this  point 
on  our  trip. 

VOL.   II  8. 


PETRA 

It  seems  no  work  of  man's  creative  hand, 

By  labor  wrought  as  wavering  fancy  planned  ; 

But  from  the  rock  as  if  by  magic  grown, 

Eternal,  silent,  beautiful,  alone  ! 

Not  virgin-white  like  that  old  Doric  shrine 

Where  erst  Athena  held  her  rites  divine  ; 

Not  saintly-grey,  like  many  a  minster  fane 

That  crowns  the  hill  and  consecrates  the  plane  ; 

But  rosy-red  as  if  the  blush  of  dawn 

That  first  beheld  them  were  not  yet  withdrawn  ; 

The  hues  of  youth  upon  a  brow  of  woe, 

Which  man  deemed  old  two  thousand  years  ago. 

Match  me  such  marvel  save  in  Eastern  clime, 

A  rose-red  city  half  as  old  as  Time." 

From  Burgon's  Prize  Poem,  "  Pet/a. 


TT4 


CHAPTER    V 

PETRA 

BEFORE  entering  upon  the  detailed  examina- 
tion of  the  wonders  of  Petra,  it  will  be  of 
service  to  the  reader  to  have  in  mind  some 
general  observations  concerning  the  three  great 
features  of  the  ancient  city — the  site  itself,  the 
marvellous  coloring  of  the  rocks,  and  the  amount 
of  the  excavations.  The  reader  will  do  well  to 
keep  the  excellent  plan  of  Laborde  and  Linant 
open  before  him.  The  site  is  a  natural  amphi- 
theatre, fully  three  miles  in  circumference,  and 
encompassed  on  all  sides  by  rugged  mountains,  of 
most  fantastic  shape,  which  rise  sheer  in  many 
places  from  two  hundred  to  six  hundred  feet.  Any 
general  view  of  this  is  almost  impossible,  but  the 
two  on  p.  i  S  i  and  p.  185  taken  from  a  point  more 
than  six  hundred  feet  above  our  camp  (Petra,  view 
from  High  Place)  will  well  repay  examination  with 
a  magnifying-glass.  This  rocky  rampart  is  cut  at 
only  two  places,  where  the  brook  enters  by  way 
of  the  Sik,  already  described,  and  where  the  brook 
escapes,  after  crossing  the  site  of  the  city,  by  a 
ravine  that  descends  in  tremendous  leaps  toward 
the  Arabah  and  the  Dead  Sea. 

"7 


1 1 8         The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

The  floor  of  the  amphitheatre  is  an  irregular 
trapezoid,  whose  northern  and 
'  southern  sides  are  nearly  paral- 
lel. The  northern  boundary  is 
about  one  thousand  yards  across, 
while  the  southern  is  about  half 
as  much,  and  the  two  sides  are 
roughly  twelve  hundred  yards 
long. 

The  brook  enters  at  the  southeast  corner,  swings 
round  a  hillock,  and  crosses  from  east  to  west. 
This  floor  is  by  no  means  level  except  one  fine 
wide  space  lying  toward  the  northeast,1  but  in 
general  it  rises  from  the  brook  to  the  north  and 
to  the  south.  Even  though  the  whole  of  this 
area  was  covered  with  a  mass  of  dwelling-houses, 
palaces,  temples,  and  triumphal  arches,  all  pros- 
trate now  in  almost  indistinguishable  confusion, 
it  would  prove  very  narrow  limits  for  such  a  city 
as  we  are  sure  Petra  was  at  many  stages  in  her 
history. 

But  a  glance  at  Laborde's  plan  (p.  97)  will  show 
that  from  this  trapezoidal  floor  of  the  valley 
open  out  more  than  a  dozen  huge  fissures  which 
extend  for  thousands  of  feet  up  into  the  rocky 
ramparts,  as,  for  example,  the  Sik,  the  Fairy  Dell 
(p.  165)  the  road  to  the  Deir  (p.  213),  the  route  to 
Mount  Hor  (p.  233)  :  and  these  interminable 
ravines  and  extensions  made  the  city  so  much 
lareer  than  the  narrow  limits  would  seem  to  allow. 

1  See  photograph,  p.  105. 


Ah 


Petra  1 2 1 

A  square  space  a  mile  on  every  side  will  not 
suffice  to  cover  these  ramifications.  And  while 
the  floor  of  the  main  depression  is  a  mass  of  ruins 
almost  everywhere,  it  was  in  the  rocky  walls  and 
these  ravines,  extending  upwards  on  all  sides,  that 
the  ancient  dwellers  hollowed  out  more  theatres, 
tombs,  and  temples  than  any  one  has  ever  been 
able  to  count. 

In  short  the  site  itself,  when  viewed  from  above, 
seems  like  one  huge  excavation  whose  depth  in 
certain  parts  is  fully  half  the  width  of  the  city's 
floor.  Seen  from  below,  however,  nothing  can  be 
finer  than  the  immense  rocky  rampart  which  almost 
completely  encloses  it.  Strong,  firm,  and  as  im- 
movable as  nature  itself,  it  seems  to  mock  at  the 
walls  of  other  cities,  and  the  puny  fortifications  of 
the  greatest  builders  of  the  earth.  Taken  together 
with  its  matchless  entrance,  it  is  certainly  one  of 
the  most  wonderful  locations  in  the  world. 

To  portray  the  marvellous  coloring  of  these 
masses  of  sandstone,  and  to  give  anything  like  a 
correct  view  of  this  unique  feature  of  Petra,  is 
something  we  attempt  with  misgivings.  From  the 
moment  we  sighted  the  great  castellated  mass  in 
which  the  city  lies  hidden,1  until  we  took  our  last 
glimpse  from  the  highlands  above,  we  never  ceased 
to  wonder  at  the  indescribable  beauties  of  the 
purples,  the  yellows,  the  crimsons,  and  the  many- 
hued  combinations.  Whether  seen  in  the  gloom 
of  the  Sik,  or  the  brilliant  sunshine  that  seemed  to 

1  See  p.  38. 


122         The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

kindle  the  craggy,  bristling  pinnacles  into  colored 
flames,  they  alike  inspired  our  surprise. 

Travellers  have  vied  with  each  other  in  their 
attempts  to  describe  these  beauties.  Some  have 
seen  less  than  they  expected,  and  some  have  seen 
more,  and  the  reasons  are  not  hard  to  imagine. 
Some  have  entered  the  lonely  city  tired  and  worn 
by  the  long  journey  over  the  desert  from  Egypt, 
carrying  their  lives  in  their  hands,  and  able  to 
make  only  the  most  hurried  examination.  Others 
have  lacked  the  eye  of  the  artist,  and  perhaps  also 
the  gift  of  color  in  their  mental  make-up;  but  even 
the  most  sober  and  least  sentimental  have  left 
testimonies  that  fully  substantiate  Petra's  claim  to 
being  unique  among  the  many  sights  of  the 
earth. 

John  Stephens,  in  1835,  speaks  of  the  dark  back- 
ground of  the  "  stony  rampart,  with  veins  of  white 
and  blue,  red,  purple,  and  sometimes  scarlet  and  light 
orange,  running  through  it  in  rainbow  streaks," 
and  "  within  the  chambers  where  there  had  been 
no  exposure  to  the  action  of  the  elements,  the 
freshness  and  beauty  of  the  colors  in  which  these 
waving  lines  were  drawn  gave  an  effect  hardly  in- 
ferior to  that  of  the  paintings  in  the  tombs  of  the 
Kings  at  Thebes." 

Edward  Robinson,  in  1838,  speaks  of  "an  end- 
less variety  of  bright  and  living  hues,  from  the 
deepest  crimson  to  the  softest  pink,  verging  also 
sometimes  to  orange  and  yellow.  These  varying 
shades  are  often  distinctly  marked  by  waving  lines, 


> 


PL, 


Petra  125 

imparting-  to  the  surface  of  the  rock  a  succession 
of  brilliant  and  changing  tints,  like  the  hues  of 
watered  silk,  and  adding  greatly  to  the  imposing 
effect  of  the  sculptured  monuments." 

Dr.  Stephen  Olin,  in  1840,  says  in  his  narrative  : 
"  The  rocks  of  Petra  are  adorned  with  such  a  pro- 
fusion of  the  most  lovely  and  brilliant  colors  as  I  be- 
lieve it  is  quite  impossible  to  describe.  Red,  purple, 
yellow,  azure  or  sky  blue,  black  and  white,  are  seen 
in  the  same  mass  in  successive  layers,  or  blended  so 
as  to  form  every  hue  and  shade  of  which  they  are 
capable,  as  brilliant  and  as  soft  as  they  ever  appear 
in  flowers,  or  in  the  plumage  of  the  birds,  or  in  the 
sky  when  illuminated  with  the  most  glorious  sun- 
set. The  red  perpetually  shades  into  pale  or  deep 
rose  or  flesh  color.  The  purple  is  sometimes  very 
dark,  and  again  approaches  the  hue  of  the  lilac  or 
violet.  The  white,  which  is  often  as  pure  as  snow, 
is  occasionally  just  dashed  with  blue  or  red.  The 
blue  is  usually  the  pale  azure  of  the  clear  sky  or 
the  ocean,  but  sometimes  has  the  deep  and  peculiar 
shades  of  the  clouds  in  summer  when  agitated  by 
a  tempest.  Yellow  is  an  epithet  often  applied  to 
sand  and  sandstone.  The  yellow  of  the  rocks  of 
Petra  is  as  bright  as  that  of  saffron.  It  is  more 
easy  to  imagine  than  describe  the  effect  of  tall 
graceful  columns,  exhibiting  these  exquisite  colors 
in  their  succession  of  regular  horizontal  strata. 

"They  are  displayed  to  still  greater  advantage 
in  the  walls  and  ceilings  of  some  of  the  excava- 
tions  where  there  is  a  slight  dip  in  the  strata.     This 


126         The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

gives  in  the  perpendicular  sides  of  the  excavation, 
greater  breadth  and  freedom  to  the  exhibition  of 
colors,  while  in  the  ceiling,  the  plane  of  which 
makes  a  very  acute  angle  with  that  of  the  strata, 
the  effect  is  indescribably  beautiful.  The  colors 
here  have  full  play  and  expansion,  and  they  exhibit 
all  the  freedom  of  outline  and  harmonious  blending 
of  tints  observable  in  a  sunset  scene.  The  ceiling 
of  a  large  excavation  just  at  the  entrance  of  Wady 
Syke,  and  nearly  opposite  to  the  amphitheatre,  af- 
fords an  example  of  the  magnificent  effect  which  I  so 
vainly  attempt  to  describe.  In  the  northern  half 
of  the  ceiling  a  brilliant  deep  red  is  the  predomi- 
nant hue,  intermingled,  however,  with  deep  blue, 
azure,  white,  and  purple.  No  painter  ever  trans- 
ferred to  his  canvas  with  half  so  much  nature  and 
effect,  the  bright  and  gorgeous  scene  painted  on 
the  western  clouds  by  a  brilliant  sunset  in  summer. 
On  the  northern  or  front  part  of  the  ceiling  these 
hues  are  deeply  shaded  into  black,  and  no  one,  I 
am  sure,  can  look  upon  it  without  being  strongly 
reminded  of  a  gathering  tempest,  and  almost  im- 
agining that  he  listens  to  the  voices  of  coming 
winds  or  thunder.  I  shall  probably  fall  under  the 
suspicion  of  extravagance  and  exaggeration  in  what 
I  have  written  upon  the  subject,  and  I  would  plead 
guilty  to  a  charge  of  imprudence,  in  attempting 
to  portray  in  words  scenes  which  painters  alone  can 
exhibit  with  any  approach  to  the  reality." 

Dean  Stanley,  in   1852,   entered  from  the  south 
and    characteristically    describes    his    impressions ; 


Ph 


M' 


■  '■  *  X.  \ 


OS 


(       MIL      . 


s-- 


Petra  1 3 1 

"  After  descending  from  Mount  Hor  we  found  our- 
selves insensibly  encircled  with  rocks  of  deepening 
and  deepening  red.  Red  indeed  from  a  distance, 
the  mountains  of  '  Red '  Edom  appear,  but  not 
more  so  than  the  granite  of  Sinai ;  and  it  is  not 
till  one  is  actually  in  the  midst  of  them  that  this 
red  becomes  crimson  and  that  the  wonder  of  the 
Petra  colors  fully  displays  itself." 

"  Two  mistakes  seem  to  me  to  have  been  made  in 
the  descriptions.  All  the  describers  have  spoken  of 
bright  hues — scarlet,  sky  blue,  orange,  etc.  Had 
they  taken  courage  to  say  instead,  dull  crimson, 
indigo,  yellow,  and  purple,  their  accounts  would  have 
lost  something  in  effect,  but  gained  much  in  truth. 
Nor  would  they  have  lost  much  in  any  way.  For 
the  colors,  though  not  gaudy,  or  rather  because 
they  are  not  gaudy,  are  gorgeous.  You  are  never, 
or  hardly  ever,  startled  by  them.  You  could  never 
mistake  them  for  anything  else  but  nature  ;  they 
seem  the  natural  colors  of  the  place." 

"  Another  mistake  is  that  the  descriptions  lead 
you — or  at  least  they  lead  me — to  suppose  that 
wherever  you  turn  at  Petra  you  see  nothing  but 
these  wonderful  colors.  I  have  already  said  that 
from  a  distance  one  hardly  sees  them  at  all.  One 
sees  the  general  contrast  only  of  the  red  sandstone 
cliffs  standing  out  against  the  white  limestone  and 
yellow  downs  which  form  their  higher  background. 
But  when  one  comes  in  face  of  the  very  cliffs  them- 
selves, then  they  are,  as  I  have  said,  a  gorgeous, 
though   dull  crimson,   streaked   and   suffused  with 


132         The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

purple.  These  are  the  two  predominant  colors, 
and  on  the  face  of  the  rocks  the  only  colors.  But 
the  whole  region  is  in  a  constant  state  of  moulder- 
ing decay.  You  can  scarcely  tell  where  excava- 
tion begins  and  decay  ends.  It  is  in  the  caves  and 
roofs  and  recesses,  whether  natural  or  artificial, 
very  numerous  it  is  true,  but  not  seen  till  you  are 
close  within  them,  that  there  appears  that  extra- 
ordinary veining  or  intermixture  of  colors  in  which 
yellow  and  blue  are  occasionally  added — ribbon- 
like to  red  and  purple.  Of  these  three  com- 
parisons usually  made — mahogany,  raw  flesh,  and 
watered  silk, — the  last  is  certainly  the  best." 

Edward  Hull,  in  1883,  looking  with  the  stony 
eye  of  a  geologist,  says  :  "  The  coloring  of  the 
sand-stone  cliffs  of  Wady  Musa  should  not  pass 
unnoticed ;  it  is  wonderfully  gorgeous,  possibly 
altogether  unique.  I  have  seen  colored  sand- 
stones in  the  British  Isles  and  in  Europe,  but 
never  before  colors  of  such  depth  and  variety  of 
pattern  as  these.  The  walls  of  rock  reminded  one 
of  the  patterns  on  highly  painted  walls,  Eastern 
carpets,  or  other  fanciful  fabrics  of  the  loom.  The 
deepest  reds,  purples,  and  shades  of  yellow  are 
here  arranged  in  alternate  bands,  shading  off  into 
each  other,  and  sometimes  curved  and  twisted 
the  into  gorgeous  fantasies.  These  effects,  due  to 
infiltration  of  the  oxides  of  iron,  manganese,  and 
other  substances,  are  frequent  in  sandstones  to 
various  degrees  ;  but  nowhere,  as  far  as  my  obser- 
vation goes,  do  they  reach  the  variety  of  form  and 


Petra  135 

brilliancy  of  coloring  to  be  found  in  the  Wady 
Musa  amongst  the  ruins  of  Petra." 

Lord  Kitchener — then  Colonel  (1883), — with  the 
eye  of  the  soldier,  speaks  of  the  "  colors  of  the 
rocks  as  wonderfully  variegated  and  most  brilliant ; 
red  to  purple  and  blue  are  the  most  predominant 
colors,  and  these  are  set  off  by  a  cold  gray  back- 
ground of  limestone  hills." 

If  then  the  gentleman  traveller,  the  trained 
geographer,  the  brilliant  church  historian,  the  col- 
lege president,  the  geologist,  and  the  great  soldier, 
only  one  of  whom  (Stephens)  spent  a  night  in- 
side of  Petra  and  saw  something  of  the  sunset  and 
sunrise  glories,  were  so  deeply  impressed  with  the 
variety  and  brilliancy  and  beauty  of  the  coloring, 
we  shall  be  pardoned  if  we  make  continual  refer- 
ence to  it,  as  we  pass  in  and  out  among  its  many 
monuments  and  winding  ravines.  We  shall  be 
listened  to  if  we  say  with  all  soberness  that 
"  the  half  was  never  told  "  of  the  effects  of  this 
many-hued  landscape ;  for  we  saw  it  glistening 
with  the  raindrops  after  the  showers  ;  we  saw  it 
before  the  sunrise,  and  in  the  weird  beauty  of  the 
afterglow  ;  we  saw  it  under  the  noonday  sun  ;  and 
we  noticed,  as  perhaps  no  one  had  done  before 
us,  the  way  in  which  those  ancient  sculptors  fixed 
the  levels  of  their  tombs  and  temples  and  dwellings 
so  as  to  make  most  artistic  use  of  the  more  beauti- 
ful strata  in  the  mountain  walls  ;  and  we  marvelled 
again  and  again,  in  the  never-ending  ravines,  how 
those  ancient  dwellers  consciously  practised  a  kind 


136         The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

of  landscape  gardening,  where  instead  of  beautiful 
effects  produced  by  banks  of  fading  flowers,  all  was 
carved  from  the  many  hued  and  easily  wrought  solid 
stone  which  took  on  new  beauties  as  it  crumbled 
in  decay. 

Some  travellers  have  expressed  themselves  as  dis- 
appointed with  the  number  of  excavations  visible 
from  any  one  point,  and  even  Dean  Stanley  wrote 
— "  I  had  expected  to  be  surrounded  by  rocks 
honeycombed  with  caves — but  in  the  most  popu- 
lous part  that  I  could  select,  I  could  not  number 
in  one  view  more  than  fifty  and  generally  fewer." 
But,  like  so  many  other  travellers,  Stanley  camped 
somewhere  south  of  Petra,  entered  in  the  forenoon, 
passed  through  the  amphitheatre,  and  out  again  the 
same  day.  But  even  in  that  case  he  must  have 
passed  the  eastern  wall,  where  for  a  thousand  feet 
or  more  the  face  of  the  cliff  to  a  height  of  three 
hundred  feet  was  once  completely  honeycombed 
with  these  tombs.  Exposed  to  the  storms  from  the 
south  and  west,  the  decay  has  been  very  great,  but 
even  now  it  contains  a  marvellous  amount  of  exca- 
vation (see  p.  123  Temple  in  east  wall).  And  the 
view  at  the  end  of  the  Sik  and  of  tombs  near  the 
inner  entrance  (p.  1 15)  will  show  clearly  that  Dean 
Stanley  was  napping  when  he  wrote  that  sentence. 
Add  to  this  the  fact  that  a  camera  at  most  takes  in 
an  angle  of  thirty  to  sixty  degrees  and  we  see  that 
an  observer  at  any  of  the  three  points  mentioned 
above  could  count  hundreds  of  excavations.  Fur- 
thermore, a  glance  at  Laborde's  plan  and  the  red 


Petra  139 

dotting  in  the  various  fissures  and  ravines  will  recall 
the  fact  already  referred  to,  that  these  ramifications 
are  almost  numberless,  and  that  here  abound  exca- 
vations interminable.  These  excavations  are  not 
always  "  caves,"  but  roads  and  stairways,  platforms, 
tombs,  dwellings,  and  temples,  many  of  which  no 
modern  traveller  has  yet  seen,  and  which  no  man  has 
ever  counted.  Thousands  are  now  inaccessible, 
because  the  approaches  have  been  weathered  or 
washed  away.  Thousands  more  are  filled  or  covered 
with  debris.  After  five  days  inside  the  city — and  the 
following  pages  will  show  how  much  climbing  we 
did— we  are  prepared  to  say  that  a  man  might  spend 
a  month  in  attempting,  and  then  fail,  to  visit  and 
examine  all  the  rock-cuttings  in  the  valley.  Their 
number  and  extent  can  no  more  be  determined  by 
a  glance  from  the  floor  of  the  valley,  than  the 
streets  and  houses  of  a  great  city  can  be  enumer- 
ated by  one  taking  a  hasty  view  from  the  public 
square. 

And  here  we  may  give  a  suggestion  or  two  to  trav- 
ellers who  will  follow  us.  None  of  the  so-called 
"guides"  will  take  strangers  to  see  everything. 
They  are  jealous,  and  cannot  rid  themselves  of  the 
conviction  that  we  are  hunting  only  for  hidden  treas- 
ures, and  will  carry  away  what  rightly  belongs  to  the 
dwellers  in  that  region.  Therefore  explorers  must  be 
their  own  guides,  and  never  accept  the  proffered 
information,  "  There  are  no  more  excavations  in 
that  direction."  One  of  the  more  friendly  fellows, 
Musa  ibn  Sabbah,  who  served  Messrs.  Brunnow  and 


140         The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

Euting,  came  to  us  repeatedly,  not  to  our  drago- 
man, and  offered  to  lead  us  by  night,  to  see  some- 
thing that  he  dare  not  show  us  by  day.  While 
having  no  reason  at  all  to  suspect  anything  like 
foul  play,  we  did  not  give  the  matter  enough  at- 
tention, for  after  we  left  Petra  we  received  infor- 
mation that  leads  us  to  believe  that  somewhere 
among  the  tombs  is  still  to  be  seen  a  mummy, 
which  some  one  else  may  have  the  pleasure  of 
bringing  to  light.  Certainly  many  of  the  tombs, 
rifled  lontr  aao,  must  have  contained  the  bodies  of 
wealthy  merchants,  who  died  and  were  embalmed 
along  the  banks  of  the  Nile,  and  then  carried 
across  the  desert  to  their  own  rich  tombs  in  Petra. 

And  finally,  if  the  traveller,  in  nearing  Petra, 
will  remember  the  fact  that  originally  the  whole 
valley,  from  its  beginning  at  the  door  of  the  Sik 
until  its  exit  among  the  fissures  at  the  southern  end 
of  the  Dead  Sea,  is  one  huge  excavation  made  by 
the  powers  of  nature, — the  torrent  and  the  earth- 
quake ;  and  that  the  hand  of  time,  the  frost,  the 
heat,  and  the  tempest  have  been  busy  through  the 
ages,  cracking,  smoothing,  chiselling  mountain-top, 
deep  ravine,  and  towering  cliff  into  a  myriad  of 
fantastic  forms  ;  and  that  the  subtler,  silent  agen- 
cies of  nature's  alchemy  have  been  adding  the  most 
brilliant  hues  to  mouldering  sandstone  strata,  he 
cannot  but  be  charmed  and  amazed  by  the  result  of 
her  handiwork.  Then  when  he  enters  the  city  by 
the  winding  valley  of  the  Sik,  gazes  at  the  stupen- 
dous walls  of  rock  which  close  the  valley  and  en- 


Petra  1 43 

circle  this  ancient  habitation,  and  marks  how  man 
himself,  but  an  imitator  of  nature,  has  adorned 
the  winding  bases  of  these  encircling  walls  with  all 
the  beauty  of  architecture  and  art,  with  temple, 
tomb,  and  palace,  column,  portico,  and  pediment, 
while  the  mountain  summits  present  nature  in  her 
wildest  and  most  savage  forms,  the  enchantment 
will  be  complete,  and  among  the  ineffaceable  im- 
pressions of  his  soul  will  live  the  memories  of  a 
visit  to  this  silent,  beautiful  "  rose-red  city  half  as 
old  as  Time." 


CHAPTER     VI 

PETRA     IN     DETAIL 

SU  N  DAY  dawned  clear  and  bright  after  the  rain 
and  clouds  of  midnight.  The  air  was  cool  and 
pleasant,  and  the  whole  camp  of  men  and  ani- 
mals enjoyed  to  the  full  the  rest  after  the  long  jour- 
ney. We  reviewed  much  that  we  had  read  before, 
in  the  few  books  we  carried  with  us,  and  then  strolled 
out  of  camp,  and  went  for  a  long  walk  down  the 
western  ravine,  through  which  the  brook  escapes 
from  Petra.  At  the  beginning  of  the  exit,  the 
towering  sides  are  not  more  than  sixty  feet  apart 
but  open  out  at  two  points  below  where  lateral 
valleys  or  fissures  come  down  to  the  bed  of  the 
stream.  The  floor  of  the  ravine,  when  not  com- 
pletely filled  with  the  shingle  and  the  stream,  was 
choked  with  an  almost  impassable  growth  of  olean- 
der and  other  bushes.  At  places  we  made  our 
way  with  difficulty,  and  more  than  once  were 
turned  back  to  find  another  opening.  The  fall 
of  the  stream  for  nearly  a  thousand  yards  in  its 
winding  was  gentle  enough  but  making  a  sudden 
turn  toward  the  north  it  began  to  drop  by  great  leaps, 
and  we  found  ourselves  scrambling  along  a  steep 

144 


Petra  in  Detail  145 

embankment  of  debris  at  the  base  of  the  cliffs  which 
towered  above  us,  until  further  progress  was  im- 
possible. We  looked  down  into  a  yawning  abyss, 
that  seemed  to  us  forever  impassable  to  any  human 
foot.  Several  hundred  feet  below  us,  we  caught 
sight  of  a  colony  of  conies,  which,  like  a  dozen 
litters  of  little  pigs,  were  running  in  and  out  among 
the  rocks  in  great  trepidation.  We  amused  our- 
selves, but  not  the  conies,  by  starting  great  rocks, 
weighing  half  a  ton,  on  frightful  journeys  down  the 
slopes  of  the  chasm.  They  leaped  and  bounded 
and  crashed  in  a  way  that  was  terrific,  sending 
the  booming  echoes  reverberating  up  and  down 
the  gorge.  The  conies  must  have  thought  the 
end  of  the  world  had  come,  and  the  startled  par- 
tridges went  clucking  and  calling  into  places  of 
safety. 

We  noted  that  for  fully  five  hundred  yards,  after 
leaving  the  city  level,  the  walls  of  the  gorge  were 
lined  with  excavations,  which  extended  tier  above 
tier  to  a  height  of  from  sixty  to  a  hundred  feet. 
Then,  for  the  next  thousand  yards,  the  ravine  had 
evidently  served  as  the  ancient  quarries  of  the  city, 
and  the  sides  were  smoothed  in  places  to  a  height 
of  fully  a  hundred  feet.  There  was  an  abundance 
of  mason  marks  and  rude  carvings  on  the  face  of 
these  cliffs,  left  by  the  workmen  at  all  stages  of  their 
work.  Many  of  the  marks  were  plainly  legible, 
others  were  made  out  by  the  aid  of  an  opera-glass, 
because  they  are  wholly  inaccessible.  At  one  point 
we  discerned  a  rude  representation  of  two  trees, 


146  The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

standing  on  either  side  of  an  altar,  like  the  drawing 
below. 

The  trees  seemed  meant  to  represent  palms,  but 
of  this  we  could  not  be  certain. 

The    mode   of   quarrying  was   plainly   exhibited 
by  the  work  left  in  all  stages  of  its  execution.      The 

men  climbed  by  means 
of  footholds  cut  into  the 
rock,  up  the  face  of  the 
cliff,  for  say  one  hundred 
feet,  and  gaining  a  stand- 
ing place  on  some  ledge 
proceeded  to  hollow  out  a  half  dome-shaped  cavity, 
where  they  could  rest  and  perhaps  sleep  at  the  end 
of  the  day.  With  their  chopping  tools,  the  same  as 
used  all  over  Syria  to-day,  and  toothed  in  the  same 
way,  they  proceeded  to  cut  a  channel,  both  ways 
from  the  dome-shaped  cavity,  as  far  as  they  wished. 
By  deepening  this  channel,  day  by  day,  the  result 
was  to  detach  from  the  cliff  a  slice,  say  fifty  feet 
long,  and  eight  or  ten  feet  thick,  according  to  their 
needs  of  large  or  small  stone  ;  as  they  worked  be- 
hind the  mass,  they  were  in  no  danger,  and  from 
time  to  time,  they  threw  down  the  detached  masses 
into  the  valley  below,  and  in  the  course  of  months, 
they  would  again  be  working  at  the  level  of  the 
floor  of  the  valley.  This  process  was  apparently 
repeated  for  centuries,  since  the  quarries  are  very 
extensive.  Modern  quarrymen  climb  the  face  of  a 
cliff,  work  a  huge  blast  in  behind  a  great  mass, 
and  throw  it  down  to  workmen  below,  who  then 


irl 


Petra — Sheikh   and   Prisoner 


Petra  in  Detail  149 

cut  it  into  shape  for  handling.  These  ancient 
quarrymen,  lacking  powder  and  dynamite,  did  prac- 
tically the  same  thing,  but  dislodged  their  mass  by 
the  slow  and  more  laborious  way  of  chopping  in  a 
channel  just  wide  enough  to  accommodate  the 
human  body. 

On  our  return  we  found  the  camp  in  commotion, 
and  a  wretched  specimen  of  an  Arab  1  was  tied  to 
a  clump  of  bushes,  in  the  central  space  between 
our  tents  ;  his  arms  were  tightly  pinioned  behind 
him,  and  his  back  was  covered  with  a  mass  of 
bleeding  welts.  Our  men  were  excited,  and  it  was 
some  time  before  we  could  get  the  story  pieced  to- 
gether. They  had  made  arrangements  with  the 
fellow  to  supply  us  with  a  certain  amount  of  milk, 
and  on  his  appearance  to-day  had  quarrelled  with 
him  over  the  price.  When  pressed  too  harshly,  he 
whipped  out  a  huge  revolver,  and  threatened  to 
shoot  some  one.  The  camp  rose  as  one  man  ; 
Hashim,  our  soldier,  rose  with  them  ;  the  poor 
feilow  made  for  his  life,  and  in  his  attempt  to 
escape,  threw  away  his  belt,  his  cartridges,  and  what 
little  money  he  possessed,  expecting  according  to 
the  customs  of  the  country  to  return  some  day  and 
find  them  again.  But  the  men  caught  him,  dis- 
armed him,  and  gave  him  a  most  frightful  beating 
with  a  whip.  They  soon  saw  from  our  faces  that 
we  did  not  approve  of  any  such  proceedings.  Then 
be^an  a  series  of  discussions  and  negotiations,  that 
lasted  three  days.    We  shamed  our  men  for  allowing 

1  Photograph,  Prisoner  and  Sheikh. 


i5°  The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

a  difference  of  perhaps  a  cent  or  two  to  issue  in 
such  a  fracas.  When  they  began  to  hedge,  the 
fellow  claimed  to  have  lost  two  or  three  dollars  in 
his  flight,  and  they  had  it  back  and  forth  for  hours. 
Hashim  claimed  the  revolver,  and  declared  his  firm 
resolve  to  deliver  the  man  to  the  prison  authorities 
in  Maan.  But  Maan  was  a  journey  of  six  hours 
away,  and  while  Hashim  was  safe  in  our  camp,  he 
might  have  met  other  treatment  by  the  way.  Later 
on  the  Sheikh  of  Elji  came  down,  and  the  con- 
ferences lasted  most  of  the  night.  We  held 
aloof  until  the  proper  time,  and  intervened  to  end 
the  matter  by  releasing  the  prisoner  and  secretly 
assuring  the  Sheikh  that  the  revolver  would  be  re- 
stored,  if  they  all  kept  peace  during  our  stay. 
They  promised  faithfully,  and  they  kept  their 
promises,  and  we  had  nothing  further  to  complain 
of.  We  mention  this  matter  for  several  reasons. 
It  was  positively  the  only  occurrence,  from  the  be- 
ginning to  the  end  of  our  trip,  that  might  have 
ended  unpleasantly.  It  was  needless  in  every  way, 
and  would  never  have  occurred  had  we  been  in 
camp.  It  may  teach  others  the  necessity  of  keep- 
ing a  firm  hand  on  the  members  of  their  caravan  ; 
for  camp  followers  and  even  dragomen  are  in 
danger  of  presuming  upon  the  power  that  is  sup- 
posed to  lie  behind  the  travellers,  and  forget  both 
wisdom  and  politeness  in  dealing  with  the  people 
of  such  regions. 

Toward    evening  a  second    soldier,   a  strapping 
fellow,  mounted  on  a  good  horse,  came  into  camp 


Petra  in  Detail  151 

from  Maan.  He  had  been  sent  in  response  to  tele- 
grams from  Kerak,  to  the  Governor  at  Maan, 
telling  of  our  presence  in  Petra.  He  made  himself 
useful,  and  his  presence  that  night  was  of  value  in 
guarding  our  horses.  The  next  day,  however,  we 
assured  him  that  we  needed  no  other  guard  than 
Hashim  and  our  own  men,  and  so  after  giving  him 
a  proper  present  and  a  polite  letter  of  thanks  to  the 
Governor,  we  sent  him  on  his  way  rejoicing. 

When  travellers  speak  of  Petra  being  entirely 
encircled  by  its  rocky  rampart,  it  is  not  meant  that 
this  is  one  unbroken  rocky  ring.  The  eastern  wall, 
continuing  the  wall  of  the  Sik,  is  unbroken  from 
Pharaoh's  Treasury  for  fully  two  thousand  yards, 
but  breaks  down  somewhat  at  the  extreme  north- 
eastern corner  of  the  valley,  and  here  is  where  the 
Romans  made  a  second  road  into  the  ancient  city. 
The  western  wall  is  unbroken  for  fully  two  thou- 
sand yards,  except  where  cut  in  twain,  in  the  centre, 
by  the  exit  of  the  brook.  It  is  higher  at  the  north- 
ern end,  in  the  region  of  the  Deir,  and  breaks  down 
at  the  extreme  southeast,  and  here  also  the  Romans, 
by  extensive  cutting,  carried  their  road  out  to  Mount 
Hor,  and  on  toward  the  Gulf  of  Akabah.  Both  the 
northern  and  the  southern  boundaries  are  deeply 
indented  by  the  lateral  fissures  and  ravines  extend- 
ing up  into  them.  These  fissures  and  ravines  are 
filled  with  rock  cuttings,  but  it  is  in  the  faces  of 
the  eastern  and  western  walls  that  we  find  the  most 
imposing  monuments.  Beginning  at  our  camp, 
which  was  pitched  near  the  ruins  of  the  triumphal 


152  The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

arch,  we  will  make  a  circuit  of  these  rocky 
walls. 

The  photograph  giving  a  distant  view  of  the 
west  wall  (p.  105)  shows  the  irregularity  of  the 
skyline.  That  marked  Citadel  Rock  (p.  119) 
shows  a  completely  detached  mass  encircled  by 
ravines  which  drain  into  the  exit  of  the  Wady 
Musa  brook.  These  latter  ravines  are  exceedingly 
narrow  and  grand,  and  only  careful  examination 
reveals  the  fact  that  the  Citadel  Rock  is  detached 
on  all  sides.  The  general  view  west  of  camp,  page 
107,  shows  the  northern  end  of  Citadel  Rock,  and 
then  a  deep  break,  and  here,  hundreds  of  feet  below 
the  skyline,  is  the  bed  of  the  brook,  and  the  exit 
already  referred  to.  The  northern  continuation  of 
the  western  wall  is  seen  in  the  picture  of  the  valley 
(p.  105)  but  mostly  hidden  by  a  mound  covered 
by  ruins,  which  is  in  turn  separated  from  the  wall 
by  the  deep  valley  leading  to  the  Deir.  No  general 
view  to  the  north  was  obtainable,  except  that  from 
the  High  Place  (p.  181),  where  this  side  lies 
to  the  left  of  the  brook.  The  view  marked  "  Exit" 
(p.  205)  gives  the  general  contour  of  the  north- 
eastern corner  of  the  trapezoidal  floor,  and  the  ram- 
part, which  is  lower  here  than  at  any  other  point. 

The  eastern  wall  can  be  seen  in  its  whole  extent 
in  the  other  view  from  the  High  Place,  and  it  is 
covered  with  excavations  from  end  to  end.  One  of 
the  best  distant  views  is  that  on  page  181,  where 
this  wall  is  seen  from  within  the  exit  gorge,  and 
across  the  whole  extent  of  the  city  from  west  to 


Petra  in  Detail  1 53 

east.  The  view  marked  "  Corinthian  tomb,  and 
temple"  (p.  141)  gives  a  closer  view  of  the 
same  section.  Those  marked  "  Temple  in  eastern 
wall"  (p.  123)  and  "  Tombs  near  inner  entrance  " 
(p.  115)  carry  us  to  the  inner  end  of  the  Sik. 

The  southern  boundary  is  bold  and  rocky  near 
the  Sik,  and  the  mass  in  which  the  Treasury  and 
the  Amphitheatre  are  carved  contains  perhaps  the 
most  remarkable  fissures  and  ravines  of  Petra,  and 
is  crowned  by  the  High  Place,  whose  details  and 
magnificent  approaches  will  be  described  in  a  later 
chapter.  This  mass  is  also  detached  on  three  sides, 
and  is  perhaps  unapproachable  from  the  side  where 
it  is  joined  to  the  main  mass.  The  southeast 
corner  of  the  trapezoid  breaks  down  low  enough 
for  the  exit  of  the  Roman  road  so  that  in  ancient 
times  a  traveller  o-oing-  towards  the  south  could 
enter  the  city  at  the  northeast  corner  and  go  out  at 
the  southwest,  but  both  entrance  and  exit  by  this 
route  involved  climbing  up  and  down  some  steep, 
rocky  roads. 

The  floor  of  the  ancient  city,  especially  on  both 
sides  of  the  brook,  is  an  endless  mass  of  shapeless 
ruins,  among  whose  debris  are  heaps  of  broken 
pottery  and  ancient  roof-tiles  an  inch  thick,  like 
those  found  at  Baalbec.  Laborde  and  others  have 
picked  out  the  ruins  of  at  least  six  temples,  many 
bridges,  large  and  small,  and  other  massive  walls, 
whose  real  character  and  use  remain  to  be  ascer- 
tained. It  is  almost  certain  that  at  one  period  the 
brook  was  arched  over  for  two  or  three  hundred 


154         The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

yards,  and  that  the  main  public  street  of  the  Roman 
city  ran  parallel  to  it,  or  even  at  places  immediately 
over  it. 

Alono-  this  main  street  were  ranged  most  of  the 
finest  public  buildings,  and  spanning  it  toward  the 
west  stood  an  arch  of  triumph.  Parts  of  the  side 
walls  of  this  are  seen  in  the  photograph  page  129. 
And  here  for  more  than  fifty  yards  the  ancient  pave- 
ment is  in  situ.  A  hundred  yards  from  the  arch  is 
the  only  structure  of  mason  work  standing  in  Petra, 
by  some  called  a  temple,  but  known  among  the 
people  as  Kasr  Firaun,  or  the  Castle  of  Pharaoh. 
The  valley  is  the  valley  of  Moses,  but  the  Treasury 
and  the  Castle  are  named  for  Pharaoh.  This  build- 
ing is  thirty-four  paces  square  and  the  walls  are 
nearly  entire.  The  front,  which  looks  toward  the 
north,  was  ornamented  with  a  row  of  columns,  four 
of  which  are  standing.  Back  of  the  columns  was 
an  open  piazza,  which  extended  the  whole  length 
of  the  building.  A  noble  doorway,  not  less  than 
thirty-five  feet  in  height,  opened  into  the  inner  com- 
partments. The  picture  on  page  129  (Temple  near 
Citadel  Rock)  gives  a  view  of  the  eastern  side  of 
it,  which  is  surmounted  by  a  handsome  cornice. 
The  dark  lines  in  the  walls  mark  the  groves  into 
which  the  builders  let  huge  beams  of  wood,  ap- 
parently for  the  purpose  of  securing  plates  of  metal, 
with  which  the  edifice  was  once  probably  covered. 
The  same  arrangement  is  seen  inside.  This  struc- 
ture was  not  a  temple,  because  it  was  divided  into 
stories,    whose    stairways    have    now    disappeared. 


Petra  in  Detail  155 

The  walls  everywhere  seem  to  have  been  covered 
by  plates  of  some  kind  for  ornamentation.  The 
timbers  let  into  the  walls  have  rotted  away  in  places, 
but  in  others  are  still  sound.  We  sorely  desired  to 
secure  pieces  of  these,  but  failed  through  the  lack 
of  ladders  and  tools  with  which  to  cut  off  any  sec- 
tions. The  ruins  in  the  vicinity  of  this  building 
will  well  repay  the  study  of  the  skilled  archaeolo- 
gist who  can  take  the  time  necessary  to  master 
their  details. 

Immediately  to  the  left  of  the  Kasr,  in  the  rocky 
wall,  is  seen  the  unfinished  tomb  so  often  referred 
to,  showing  that  the  ancients  did  their  carving,  as 
they  did  their  quarrying,  by  working  from  the  top 
downward.  A  hole  at  the  base  of  this  monu- 
ment leads  to  a  cavity  behind  the  projected  pillars, 
and  a  rude  stairway  ascends  to  the  level  where  the 
workmen  were  engaged,  when  some  change  in  the 
life  of  the  city  drove  them  away  forever. 

Not  many  yards  to  the  left  of  this  point  is  an- 
other object  of  interest— the  Columbarium  (see 
p.  137)  cut  into  the  solid  rocks.  The  existence 
of  a  place  of  sepulture  of  this  sort  shows  clearly 
that  the  people  of  Petra  at  some  time  burned  their 
dead.  This  was  probably  during  the  Roman  pe- 
riod. The  dark  opening  in  the  centre  of  the 
picture  is  a  doorway  leading  to  another  chamber, 
whose  walls  were  covered  with  similar  niches. 

So  much  debris  has  fallen  along  this  western 
wall,  and  especially  below  the  ancient  citadel,  that 
the   lower  lines    of  excavation  are  almost   wholly 


156         The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

destroyed  or  filled  up  and  inaccessible.  But  it 
was  here  in  the  steep  face  of  this  rocky  mass  that 
we  noticed  some  of  the  most  brilliant  of  all  the  hues 
in  the  sandstone.  Here,  also,  in  a  sheer  preci- 
pice, can  be  seen  the  greatest  variety  of  the  strata, 
and  when  colored  photography  is  perfected,  this 
spot  will  yield  some  of  the  finest  effects  imagin- 
able. We  secured  our  best  samples  of  the  sand- 
stone from  this  region,  but  here  again  we  felt  the 
lack  of  proper  tools,  and  advise  other  travellers 
to  carry  hammers  and  chisels  with  them  for  this 
purpose. 

In  the  photograph  of  the  temple  and  western 
gorge  is  seen  a  small  temple  whose  left  door-jamb 
is  broken  at  the  bottom.  A  beautiful  inclined  way 
once  led  up  to  this  spot.  And  inside  this  temple  is 
beyond  all  comparison  the  most  beautiful  color 
effect  we  saw  in  Petra.  The  walls  and  the  ceiling" 
were  arranged  at  such  a  level  as  to  include  the 
most  brilliant  strata  in  the  mountains — a  perfect 
quilt  of  ribbons,  which  wave  like  flags,  swirl  like 
watered  silk,  rising,  falling,  and  producing  the  most 
wonderful  effects.  The  traveller  who  fails  to  look 
in  at  this  doorway  has  missed  one  of  the  sights  of 
Petra.  We  would  name  this  the  Rainbow  Temple. 
It  is  undoubtedly  the  ever  busy  action  of  the  ele- 
ments that  keeps  the  coloring  brilliant.  In  colder 
and  damper  climates  a  building  whose  stones  are 
white  and  clean  from  the  quarry  soon  loses  forever 
its  freshness  and  delicate  natural  colors.  But  in 
Petra  the  perpetual  wearing  away  of  the  sandstone 


Petra  in  Detail  157 

keeps  the  coloring  of  the  rocks  and  monuments  as 
freshly  beautiful  as  they  were  two  thousand  years 
or  more  ago,  and  will  do  so  until  they  disappear. 

A  little  to  the  north  of  this  temple  is  another 
great  carving  which  travellers  have  named  the 
Corinthian  Tomb,  or  Tomb  in  Three  Stories. 
Where  the  cliff  ends  the  tomb  was  carried  up  in 
courses  of  masonry.  This  has  fallen  into  ruins,  to 
the  great  damage  and  disfigurement  of  the  appear- 
ance of  the  whole  structure.  One  of  the  acque- 
ducts  brought  its  water  to  this  line  of  monuments. 
The  space  in  front  of  them  was  one  of  the  plazas 
of  the  city.  From  this  spot  we  saw  one  of  the 
Mazzebah  pillars  of  the  High  Place,  standing  out 
against  the  skyline  like  a  church  steeple.  This 
vicinity  was  plainly  the  centre  of  the  greatest  wealth 
and  beauty  in  Petra.  Being  the  eastern  wall,  it 
has  caught  the  force  of  the  storms  which  come 
from  the  south  and  west,  and  shows  more  clearly 
the  decay  and  destruction  wrought  in  the  lapse 
of  centuries. 

The  most  imposing  monuments  after  the  Treas- 
ury and  the  Deir  were  carved  in  this  eastern  wall. 
The  lack  of  any  elevated  vantage-point  makes  it 
difficult  to  get  any  near  views  of  them.  The  view 
taken  from  inside  the  western  gorge  (p.  193) 
gives  a  distant  view.  That  marked  "  Temple  in 
eastern  wall "  takes  in  a  large  expanse,  includ- 
ing one  of  the  great  temples,  which  in  its  glory 
must  have  been  very  impressive.  The  cutting  in 
the  rock  is  even  now  more  than  sixty  feet  wide  and 


i58  The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

deep,  and  this  platform  was  greatly  extended  city- 
wards by  enormous  sub-structures,  like  the  plat- 
forms in  Jerusalem.  These  arches  have  mostly 
fallen,  but  their  outlines  and  debris  are  enormous. 
The  height  of  the  cutting  in  the  face  of  the  cliff  at 
this  point  is  more  than  a  hundred  feet,  and  the 
rooms  hollowed  out  are  reached  by  stairways  in- 
side the  rock. 

In  some  of  the  tombs  the  floors  were  perfectly 
level,  as  they  were  when  first  hewn  from  the  rock, 
in  others  we  found  a  series  of  rectangular  openings 
ranging  from  twenty  inches  to  two  feet  in  depth, 
and  varying  in  size  according  to  the  dimensions  of 
the  body  to  be  buried.  The  floors  of  several 
tombs  which  we  visited  were  completely  covered  by 
such  openings,  whereas  in  others  there  were  but 
one  or  two.  All  of  these  tombs  were  quite  empty. 
At  some  time  they  were  covered  with  stone  slabs, 
which  had  been  cut  to  fill  a  step-like  ledge  around 
the  upper  edge  of  the  grave.  Many  of  the  frag- 
ments of  the  covers  of  these  openings  were  found, 
but  none  of  them  were  inscribed  in  any  way. 

Our  camp  was  set  among  the  ruins  near  the  Kasr 
and  the  arch  ;  behind  us  was  a  slope  covered  with 
the  debris  of  the  city ;  another  mound  across  the 
brook  was  also  a  shapeless  mass.  Back  of  these 
ruin-covered  slopes,  and  on  either  side  of  us  to  the 
east  and  west,  rose  the  enchanting  cliffs,  carved 
by  ages  of  wind  and  storm.  Over  all,  the  decay- 
ing hand  of  time  has  spread  a  crumbling  mantle, 
half   revealing,  half  concealing  their  indescribable 


Petra  in  Detail  159 

beauties.  Add  to  this  impression  the  utter  loneli- 
ness and  desolation,  with  not  a  sight  or  a  sound 
that  even  faintly  recalls  any  object  or  event  within 
a  thousand  years, — and,  between  the  sunset  glories 
and  the  clouds  flying  over  this  scene  at  night,  one 
has  room  for  sensations  as  strange,  as  weird,  and 
as  enchanting  as  one  can  hope  to  experience  on 
this  curious  earth  of  ours. 


CHAPTER    VII 

THEATRE— FAIRY  DELL  AND  HIGH  PLACE 

BY  Monday,  we  had  made  every  preparation 
for  careful  exploration,  and  decided  to  at- 
tack the  detached  mass  lying  at  the  inner 
end  of  the  Sik,  standing,  as  it  does,  almost  in  the 
heart  of  the  ancient  city.  On  its  eastern  flank  is  the 
Treasury  of  Pharaoh,  and  the  great  amphitheatre  ; 
into  its  heart  extends  one  of  the  finest  fissures  of 
the  valley  ;  up  its  sides  wind  at  least  three  of  the 
famous  rock  stairways,  each  bordered  with  endless 
excavations,  and  on  its  summit  the  cathedral  of 
ancient  worship — the  High  Place  of  Edom.  Musa, 
our  guide,  was  on  hand  early,  and  loaded  with 
camera,  plates,  and  rifles  we  left  camp,  and  swing- 
ing round  the  ruins  south  of  the  brook  we  came 
at  once  to  the  inner  end  of  the  Sik. 

The  view  of  the  tombs  near  the  inner  entrance 
will  give  an  idea  of  the  way  in  which  the  eastern 
wall  is  honeycombed  at  this  point  (p.  115)  and 
shows  one  of  the  finest  carved  masses  in  Petra. 
From  the  floor  of  the  valley  to  the  sky-line  there 
was  some  tomb  or  monument  in  nearly  every 
stratum,  while  to  the  left  of  the  centre  appears  the 

160 


Theatre— Fairy  Dell  and  High  Place     163 

enormous  cutting  of  the  great  amphitheatre,  and 
above  it  towers  the  peak  on  which  was  carved  the 
High  Place.  A  nearer  view  of  the  amphitheatre 
will  give  a  clearer  idea  of  its  size,  especially  when 
one  finds  the  individual  who  stands  gun  in  hand 
among-  its  rows  of  seats.  This  theatre  is  a  strange 
and  unexpected  sight  in  this  Appian  Way  of 
Petra ;  with  tombs  on  every  side  and  even  above 
it,  this  pleasure  resort  is  hewn  from  solid  rock,  and 
one  is  forced  to  make  the  astonished  comment, 
44  Amusement  in  a  cemetery  !  a  theatre  in  the  midst 
of  sepulchres  ! " 

The  diameter  of  the  floor,  or  stage,  is  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  feet,  around  which  rise  thirty-three 
rows  of  seats,  so  well  preserved  that  an  audience 
might  easily  take  their  places  to-day  and  watch 
whatever  tragedy  or  comedy  the  wandering  Arabs 
might  act  on  the  level  floor  below.  Burckhardt 
estimated  it  as  accommodating  three  thousand 
persons,  but  we  estimated  from  our  measurements 
that  fully  five  thousand  spectators  could  have  been 
seated  in  it  when  the  tiers  of  seats  were  complete. 
The  excavation  from  the  floor  to  the  edge  of  the 
cutting  above  is  considerably  over  one  hundred 
and  thirty  feet,  and  more  than  three  hundred  feet 
from  side  to  side.  Here  also  the  coloring  of  the 
sandstone  is  brilliant,  and  at  certain  points  in  the 
excavation  the  tiers  of  seats  are  literally  red  and 
purple  alternately  in  the  native  rock.  Shut  in  on 
nearly  every  side,  these  many-colored  seats  filled 
with  throngs  of  brilliantly  dressed  revellers,  the  rocks 


1 64         The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

around  and  above  crowded  with  the  less  fortunate 
denizens  of  the  region,  what  a  spectacle  in  this 
valley  it  must  have  been  !  What  an  effect  it  must 
have  produced  upon  the  weary  traveller,  toiling  in 
from  the  burning  sands  of  the  desert,  along  the 
shadows  of  the  marvellous  Sik,  past  the  vision  of 
the  Treasury,  and  into  the  widening  gorge  that 
resounded  with  the  shouts  of  the  revellers,  and 
reverberated  with  the  applause  of  the  populace,  in 
the  days  of  its  ancient  glory  ! 

"  To  me,"  wrote  Stephens  many  years  ago,  "the 
stillness  of  a  ruined  city  is  nowhere  so  impressive 
as  when  sitting  on  the  steps  of  its  theatre  :  once 
thronged  with  the  pleasure-seeking  crowds,  but 
now  given  up  to  solitude  and  desolation.  Day 
after  day  these  seats  had  been  filled  and  the 
now  silent  rocks  had  re-echoed  to  the  applauding 
shouts  of  thousands  ;  and  little  could  an  ancient 
Edomite  imagine  that  a  solitary  stranger,  from  a 
then  unknown  world,  would  one  day  be  wandering 
among  the  ruins  of  his  proud  and  wonderful  city, 
meditating  upon  the  fate  of  a  race  that  has  for  ages 
passed  away.  Where  are  ye,  inhabitants  of  this 
desolate  city  ?  Ye  who  once  sat  on  the  seats  of 
this  theatre,  the  young,  the  high-born,  the  beautiful, 
the  brave  ;  who  once  rejoiced  in  your  riches  and 
power,  and  lived  as  if  there  were  no  grave  ?  Where 
are  ye  now  ?  Even  the  very  tombs,  whose  open 
doors  are  stretching  away  in  long  ranges  before  the 
eyes  of  the  wondering  traveller,  cannot  reveal  the 
mystery  of  your  doom  ;  your  dry  bones  are  gone  ; 


i6s         Petra — On  the  Road  to  the  First  High  Place 
near  the  Treasury 


Theatre — Fairy  Dell  and  High  Place     167 

the  robber  has  invaded  your  graves,  and  your  very 
ashes  have  been  swept  away  to  make  room  for  the 
wandering  Arab  of  the  desert." 

Again  we  passed  into  the  defile  whose  rocky 
banks  are  strewn  with  the  fragments  of  the  ancient 
city  ;  again  we  gazed  upon  the  tiers  of  the  rock  cut- 
tings, the  broken  stairways,  the  ruin  wrought  by 
masses  shaken  loose  by  the  earthquake,  until  we 
stood  spellbound  once  more  in  front  of  the  Treas- 
ury. Each  visit  seems  to  enhance  its  beauties, 
and  deepen  the  charm  of  its  silent  glories  —  its 
power  was  the  same  but  changed,  as  seen  at  sun- 
rise, at  sunset,  in  the  shower,  or  in  the  blaze  of 
noonday. 

None  of  the  guide-books  or  records  of  former 
travellers  had  spoken  of  a  road  leading  up  the  fissure 
to  the  left  of  the  Treasury.  The  dense  growth  of 
oleander  in  the  floor  of  the  opening  and  the  trees 
and  bushes  among  the  rocks  hide  one  of  the  most 
charming  bits  in  Petra,  which  we  named  the  Fairy 
Dell.  Later  in  the  day  the  shadow  of  the  cliff  fell 
across  it  and  so  it  was  our  lot  to  take  this  morn- 
ing view  or  nothing.  A  glance  at  the  picture  will 
show  on  the  right  the  cliff  into  which  the  Treasury 
is  carved,  and  on  the  left  the  mass  at  the  end  of 
the  Sik,  while  in  between  rises  the  dell,  which  is 
more  like  fairyland  than  anything  we  ever  saw  in 
our  childhood  dreams.  It  is  a  promontory  between 
two  fissures,  and  the  mass  of  iris-hued  and  fantastic 
sandstone  between  the  rifts  was  cut  into  a  maze, 
where    we    found    cascades,    stairways,    platforms, 


1 68         The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

seats,  and  sheltered  nooks.  For  a  height  of  nearly 
two  hundred  feet,  all  is  now  overgrown  with  cling- 
ing plants  and  bushes.  The  edges  of  the  sand- 
stone, worn  by  wind  and  water,  have  melted  into 
shapes  most  beautiful,  with  colors  soft,  sweet  and 
harmonious — a  most  exquisite  bit  of  landscape 
gardening,  with  all  the  colors  of  the  flowers,  and 
yet  in  solid  stone  !  We  saw  it  just  at  the  right  time, 
— after  the  showers,  when  the  ancient  pools  and 
channels  were  filled  with  water,  and  the  little  cas- 
cades came  tumbling  down  the  rocks  and  enhanced 
their  beauty. 

As  we  climbed  the  ruined  stairways,  and  saw 
everywhere  the  marks  of  human  handiwork,  in  the 
nooks,  the  channels,  the  pools,  the  little  tunnels, 
the  seats,  arranged  to  command  the  valley  and  the 
Treasury  below,  we  marvelled  at  the  taste,  the  in- 
genuity, and  the  skill  of  those  ancient  races  who, 
entering  this  wildest  of  Nature's  fastnesses,  pro- 
ceeded to  subdue  and  refine  its  beauties  until  it 
must  have  been,  as  it  certainly  is  still,  one  of  the 
most  charming  spots  that  the  eye  of  man  has  ever 
rested  upon. 

As  we  climbed  higher  and  lost  sight  of  the  dell, 
the  pathway  broadened  into  a  road  that  we  felt 
must  lead  to  something  of  importance.  At  one 
point  the  roadway  was  cut  for  a  hundred  and  fifty 
feet  through  a  shoulder  of  the  rock,  ten  feet  wide, 
and  with  a  depth  varying  from  five  to  fifteen  feet. 
At  places  the  action  of  the  weather  had  completely 
destroyed  the   old   path,   but   we  followed  its  line 


Pi 

< 


Theatre — Fairy  Dell  and  High  Place     171 

until  we  were  fully  five  hundred  feet  above  the  level 
of  our  tents.  We  made  our  way  across  the  top  of 
the  mass  in  an  easterly  direction,  and  soon  came 
upon  another  roadway  coming  from  the  vicinity  of 
the  theatre,  through  a  great  cutting,  and  after  join- 
ing they  pass  on  to  the  base  of  the  famous  "  mazze- 
bah"  or  pillars,  which  mark  the  ancient  High  Place 
of  Edom.  The  picture  (p.  169  mazzebah)  gives  an 
excellent  idea  of  the  spot.  The  eastern  pillar  is 
five  feet  by  five  and  a  half  feet  at  the  base,  and 
twenty-four  feet  high.  The  westerly  one  is  ten 
by  six  feet,  and  twenty  feet  high.  They  were  not 
built,  but  were  formed  by  cutting  the  native  rock 
away  from  around  them.  The  whole  amount 
of  cutting  which  took  place  in  this  region  is  tre- 
mendous. 

The  process  of  quarrying  was  evidently  still  be- 
ing carried  on  here  when  it  was  stopped  by  some 
violent  occurrence.  Directly  in  front  of  the  near- 
est pyramid,  in  the  picture,  can  be  seen  a  num- 
ber of  rectangular  lines,  now  marked  by  a  growth 
of  weeds  and  grass,  where  blocks  of  stone  have 
been  outlined,  preparatory  to  forcing  them  loose  by 
wedges.  Some  blocks  had  been  loosened,  but  had 
not  been  taken  away  ;  others  were  still  connected 
with  the  main  mass.  The  fine  grain  and  delicate 
color  of  the  rock  in  this  quarry  must  have  been  the 
reason  for  the  demand  made  upon  it.  It  appeared 
to  have  been  used  in  the  construction  of  the  Kasr 
Firaun.  In  color  and  texture  it  resembles  the 
famous  Carlisle  sandstone.      The  whole  face  of  the 


172  The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

great  cliff  in  the  centre  of  the  picture  must  have 
been  cut  away  in  this  manner. 

Immediately  across  the  great  roadway,  on  the 
top  of  the  highest  point,  are  the  shapeless  ruins 
of  a  building  that  was  once  fully  a  hundred  and 
fifty  feet  long.  To  the  left  of  this  building,  and 
opposite  the  mazzebah,  is  another  cutting  which 
seems  to  have  formed  a  grand  staircase,  leading  up 
behind  the  large  building  to  the  very  summit  of  the 
rocky  mass,  where  we  found  the  object  of  our 
search — the  most  ancient  High  Place. 

Our  camp  in  Petra  was  about  three  thousand  feet 
above  the  sea  and  our  barometers  registered  thirty- 
seven  hundred  at  this  point,  or  seven  hundred  feet 
higher  than  the  floor  of  the  city  about  the  brook. 
The  first  view  of  the  High  Place,  to  one  approach- 
ing it  from  this  direction,  is  that  of  the  sunken 
court,  which  is  forty-seven  feet  long  and  twenty 
feet  wide.  In  its  centre,  cut  from  the  native  rock, 
is  a  small  raised  platform,  four  feet  ten  inches  by 
two  feet  seven  inches,  and  four  inches  high.  The 
whole  court  slopes  perceptibly  to  the  east  and 
south,  and  was  drained  through  a  cutting  at  the 
southeast  corner. 

The  second  view  (High  Place — Altars)  gives 
the  arrangement  of  the  pools,  the  two  altars  on  the 
west  side  of  the  sunken  court,  with  the  raised  plat- 
form immediately  in  front.  On  the  left  is  a  pool 
cut  into  the  rock  five  and  a  half  feet  long  and 
about  sixteen  inches  deep.  To  the  right  of  it  and 
between  it  and  the  steps,  is  another  smaller  cavity, 


Theatre — Fairy  Dell  and  High  Place    175 

hollowed  out  and  connected  by  a  channel  with  the 
round  altar  just  above  it  (see  Plan,  p.  97).  The 
round  altar  is  formed  by  two  concentric  depressions 
cut  into  the  rock,  the  outer  one  being  forty-six 
inches  in  diameter  and  the  inner  one  seventeen 
inches.  If  this  was  the  spot  for  slaying  the  bloody 
sacrifices,  then  the  blood  would  run  down  and 
collect  in  the  cavity  close  to  the  stairway. 

The  other  altar  is  a  detached  rectangular  block, 
nine  by  six  feet,  with  the  passage-way  all  round  it. 
It  is  approached  by  the  stairs  seen  in  the  pictures 
and  plan,  and,  in  addition  to  the  strange  cuttings 
on  the  corners,  contains  a  depression  forty-three 
inches  long  and  four  inches  deep,  possibly  for  liba- 
tions, or  parts  of  the  burnt  offerings.  At  the 
northern  end  of  the  sunken  court  is  a  cutting  that 
seems  to  have  been  intended  for  a  seat  accommo- 
dating at  least  ten  persons.  Thirty  feet  south  of 
the  southern  end  of  the  court  is  a  large  pool,  seven 
feet  eight  inches  by  ten  feet,  and  three  feet  deep, 
cut  into  the  solid  rock.1  The  worshipper  or  priest 
who  ascended  these  altar  stairs,  and  then  turned  to 
face  the  court,  found  himself  looking  towards  the 
rising  sun. 

We  had  carried  with  us  the  Biblical  World  for 
January,  1901,  and  carefully  re-read  Professor  Rob- 
inson's article,  "The  High  Place  at  Petra  in 
Edom,"  on  the  spot  itself.  We  are  convinced  that 
the  altars,  pools,  and  stairways  are  an  ancient  piece 
of  workmanship,  and  most  certainly  intended  for  the 

1  For  a  more  detailed  description  see  Pal.  Exp.  Quarterly,  S.  I.  Curtis. 


176         The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

purposes  of  worship.  We  noted  also  that  while 
Petra  is  cut  into  the  lower  strata  of  the  friable  red 
and  white  sandstone,  this  particular  peak  reaches  in 
its  summit  the  harder  strata  which  appear  every- 
where in  the  plateau  and  mountains  round  about. 
This  fact  alone  probably  explains  the  excellent  pre- 
servation of  this  monument  of  antiquity,  for  had  it 
been  hewn  in  strata  similar  to  that  of  some  of  the 
crumbling  sandstone  of  the  city  below,  it  would 
not  have  been  distinguishable  after  the  lapse  of  so 
many  centuries.  This  layer  of  harder  rock  has 
acted  as  a  roof  to  the  whole  peak.  There  is  plenty 
of  crumbling  red  sandstone  two  hundred  yards 
away,  and  only  fifty  or  sixty  feet  lower  down,  but 
the  cap  in  which  this  High  Place  is  preserved  is  of 
harder  consistency.  Comparing  the  weathering 
on  this  rock  with  the  other  ancient  buildings  and 
cuttings  in  Syria,  there  can  be  no  doubt  as  to  the 
very  great  antiquity  of  this  record  of  past  ages. 

As  to  the  outlook  from  this  peak,  it  is  sublime, 
and  worthy  of  a  place  among  the  noted  mountains 
of  the  Bible,  and  marvellously  fitted  to  stir  within 
the  human  heart  those  emotions  which  have  ever 
found  their  rightful  vent  in  the  worship  of  powers 
far  above  all  things  human. 

As  to  location,  it  is  much  more  central  than  other 
explorers  have  realized.  We  have  described  the  im- 
pressive pathway  leading  from  the  Treasury  through 
the  Fairy  Dell  to  this  spot.  We  have  noticed  the 
roadway  coming  from  a  point  in  the  valley  south 
of    the    theatre,   and    still   another   stairway    came 


. 

\ 

\ 

~>u 

• 

* 

d, 


Theatre — Fairy  Dell  and  High  Place     179 

from  a  point  west  of  the  theatre.  We  attempted 
to  descend  this  path,  but  found  it  impossible  with- 
out ropes  and  ladders,  though  the  remains  of  the 
ancient  stairways  are  visible  at  a  dozen  points.  The 
photograph  marked  "Descent  from  High  Place" 
(p.  185),  looks  down  this  fissure,  and  was  taken 
from  a  spot  near  where  the  photograph  of  the  in- 
scription on  the  road  to  the  High  Place  was  taken. 
To  the  left  of  this  inscription  is  a  rude  cutting  of 
an  altar  approached  by  stairs.  In  addition  to  the 
three  approaches  named,  there  was  still  a  fourth, 
coming  from  the  southwest.  This  was  a  longer 
and  hence  easier  approach  than  any  of  the  other 
three.  It  was  bordered  for  hundreds  of  yards 
with  fine  cuttings,  in  one  of  which  is  still  to  be 
seen  a  well-preserved  inscription  in  the  Nabathean 
characters. 

Three  separate  inscriptions  are  visible  on  the 
rock  in  the  picture. 

The  upper  one  on  the  right  is  partly  concealed 
in  the  photograph  by  the  foliage:  the  ends  of  the 
two  lines  consist  of  the  words — 

— his  son 

— his  daughter. 

A  lower  inscription  on  the  right  is  also  partly 
concealed  by  the  foliage  and  discoloration  of  the 
rocks.     The  portion  that  is  visible  reads 

Remembered  be  Kayyamat,  son  of — 

The  upper  central  inscription  is  almost  entirely 


180         The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

legible;  certain  letters  which  are  in  doubt  are  in- 
dicated by  underscoring  them.     The  translation  is : 

Remembered  be  Hayyu,  son  of  Balitu,  in  goodness  and  peace 
before  Dushara. 

The  inscription  is  similar  to  hundreds  of  others 
in  the  region,  cut  in  the  rocks  by  men  who  had 
abundant  leisure,  and  wished  to  perpetuate  their 
names.1 

The  position  of  this  High  Place,  within  the 
ancient  capital  of  Edom,  its  magnificent  central 
location,  its  four  main  approaches  hewn  from  the 
solid  rock,  with  their  endless  excavations,  carried 
by  cuttings  and  stairways  around  and  up  towering 
cliffs,  three  of  which  roadways  unite  in  front  of  the 
"mazzebah,"  and  then  make  the  remainder  of  the 
ascent  by  a  colossal  stair  to  the  High  Place  itself — 
these  facts  easily  establish  its  claim  to  being  the 
chief  place  of  worship,  the  cathedral  rock  of  ancient 
Edom. 

From  the  days  of  Abraham  to  Solomon,  the 
Bible  makes  many  references  to  the  worship  on 
the  high  places.  It  was  a  natural  and  at  first  an 
innocent  impulse,  which  led  men  to  resort  to  the 
hills  for  worship.  There  the  worshippers  were 
brought  nearer  to  the  heavens,  and  the  separation 
of  those  retired  eminences  from  the  scenes  of  the 
usual  routine  of  daily  occupation  suggested  the 
idea  of  sacredness.     Sinai,    Hor,    Nebo,  Ebal  and 

1  We  are  indebted  to  Professor  Davis  of  the  Princeton  Theological  Sem- 
inary for  this  translation. 


< 


> 


Theatre — Fairy  Dell  and  High  Place    183 

Gerizim,  Ramah  and  Jerusalem,  play  an  important 
part  in  the  history  of  the  religious  life  of  the  Chil- 
dren of  Israel.  The  literature  of  other  nations, 
and  their  attempts  to  build  in  the  low-lying  plain 
structures  that  would  imitate  the  mountain  heights 
bear  testimony  to  the  same  impulse  and  instinct. 

Leaving  the  fuller  discussion  of  the  more  recon- 
dite questions  as  to  how  far  the  Israelites,  coming 
from  Egypt,  were  influenced  by  the  example  of  the 
Moabites  and  Canaanites  to  wider  and  later  study,  we 
may  point  out  briefly  some  of  the  matters  that  come 
into  prominence.  That  these  spots  were  for  worship, 
and  not  for  ceremonies  connected  with  the  burial 
of  the  dead  alone,  is  evidenced  by  the  elevated 
location  of  the  main  High  Place  in  Petra,  and  the 
absence  of  tombs  anywhere  within  hundreds  of 
yards  of  it.  That  the  worship  included  the  ele- 
ment of  sacrifice  is  proved  by  the  accessories  of  all 
such  well-preserved  locations.  That  they  reproduce 
in  a  striking  manner  the  main  features  of  Israel's 
tabernacle, — the  sanctuary,  the  court,  the  lavers, 
the  altars,  etc.,  is  undeniable.  Now,  whether  the 
Israelites  borrowed  from  the  Moabites,  or  the  Moa- 
bites from  the  Israelites,  or  both  from  another 
source,  is  of  course  an  interesting  question  ;  but  one 
of  the  plainest  and  most  valuable  inferences  lies 
on  the  surface  and  is  this,  —  these  high  places 
bear  the  strongest  testimony,  along  with  older 
references  in  literature,  to  the  great  age  of  the 
idea  and  practice  of  sacrifice,  pushing  it  back  into 
the  earliest   periods.     Whether   it  was  animal  or 


1 84         The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

human,  or  both,  will  perhaps  some  day  be  known 
more  fully. 

In  the  reign  of  Solomon  we  are  suddenly  con- 
fronted by  an  unusual  development  of  the  worship 
on  high  places.  It  was  one  of  the  sins  of  this  great 
King  that  he  burnt  sacrifices  on  so  many  of  these 
high  altars.  His  foreign  wives  induced  him  to 
build  high  places  for  "  Ashtoreth,  the  abomination 
of  the  Zidonians  ;  for  Chemosh,  the  abomination  of 
the  Moabites,  and  for  Milcom,  the  abomination  of 
the  Children  of  Ammon"  (i  Kings  xi.,  17  ;  2  Kings 
xxiii.,  13).  In  spite  of  the  construction  of  the 
Temple,  this  idolatrous  worship  introduced  from 
foreign  nations,  and  the  tvorship  of  Jehovah  on 
high  places  went  on  increasing  for  many  years. 
The  conflict  between  the  two  is  sugfaested  in 
Solomon's  days.  Elijah  complains  that  the  altars 
of  God  are  thrown  down  and  neglected,  and  he 
himself  burns  incense  on  the  reconstructed  altar  on 
Mount  Carmel.  This  conflict  grew  sharper  in  the 
day  of  Asa  and  the  kings  who  followed  him,  until 
the  impression  is  sharply  defined  that  all  the  wor- 
ship on  these  high  places  was  idolatrous  and  hence 
illegitimate.  Then  followed  the  centralizing  of 
worship  and  sacrifice  at  the  one  altar  in  Jerusa- 
lem, and  the  warfare  wa^ed  against  all  the  high 
places  in  the  Holy  Land.  The  reasons  for  this 
are  not  far  to  seek.  The  ritual  and  worship  at 
these  myriad  local  altars,  after  Solomon's  acces- 
sion, degenerated  from  the  older  and  simpler 
standard,    and    their  heathen   practices    had    been 


4m,     \:  <  ~%  s 


Theatre — Fairy  Dell  and  High  Place    187 

introduced  into  the  city  of  Jerusalem  itself.  Any 
reform  in  Jerusalem  must  needs  have  issued  in  a 
warfare  against  all  the  local  shrines.  Hence  the 
interesting  fact  that  to  find  the  mazzebah  and 
other  accessories  of  this  worship  on  high  places  we 
must  go  to  Edom  and  other  portions  of  Syria, 
which  lay  beyond  the  sphere  of  the  Jewish  king- 
dom's influence  and  control.  And  here  in  Petra 
are  certainly  the  most  perfect  specimens  of  these 
interesting  remains  of  the  centuries  before  the 
monarchy  and  perhaps  the  Exodus. 

Two  other  features  of  these  ancient  high 
places,  connect  them  curiously  with  our  religious 
life  of  to-day.  The  ancient  worship  in  Petra  em- 
braced the  double  altar  of  their  matchless  high 
place. 

The  other  connecting  link  is  the  relation  between 
the  pillar  or  the  pillars,  marking  the  location  of 
these  ancient  places  of  worship,  and  the  minaret 
and  church  steeple.  It  does  not  require  a  great 
stretch  of  imagination  to  connect  this  pillar  with 
the  minaret  of  Islam  and  the  steeple  of  the 
Christian  church.  The  Mohammedans  added  a 
winding  stair,  like  the  approaches  to  the  ancient 
high  place,  and  a  human  voice  to  call  men  to 
prayer ;  while  the  Christians  added  a  bell  or  a 
set  of  chimes.  The  Jews,  curiously  enough,  en- 
joined and  urged  the  destruction  of  all  the  groves 
and  "  pillars  "  and  accessories  of  the  "  high  places," 
and  they  did  not  leave  one  pillar  standing  west 
of   the   Jordan.     They  never  seem  to  have   built 


1 88         The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

anything  corresponding  to  the  minaret  or  the  church 
steeple  in  connection  with  their  synagogues. 

Christian  church  architecture  has  also  decreed 
that  the  altar  shall  face  the  east,  as  the  altars  of 
the  High  Place  at  Petra  do,  but  with  this  important 
change  :  the  sunken  court  at  Petra  lies  to  the  east 
of  the  altars,  while  in  Christian  cathedrals  the  nave 
lies  to  the  west.  All  the  sun  temples,  however, 
follow,  of  course,  the  order  of  the  High  Place  in 
Petra.  The  temples  at  Baalbec,  and  at  thirty  other 
places  in  that  region,  invariably  face  the  east,  the 
rising  sun  entering  the  opening  door  and  lighting 
up  the  altar  which  stands  against  the  western  wall. 
The  Jews  afterward  opened  their  windows  and 
prayed  toward  Jerusalem,  and  the  Moslems,  no 
matter  where  they  may  be,  pray  toward  Mecca.  It 
remained  for  evangelical  Christianity  to  shake  it- 
self free  from  the  points  of  the  compass,  from  Jeru- 
salem, from  Rome,  from  human  traditions  of  every 
sort,  from  all  created  objects,  and  lift  its  face 
and  heart  heavenwards  in  the  worship  of  God  in 
spirit  and  in  truth. 

Note — The  High  Place  was  seen  by  Mr.  E.  L.  Wilson  and  party  in 
1862.  Described  by  Prof.  S.  I.  Curtis,  who  visited  it  in  iSg8.  See  also 
Prof.  G.  L.  Robinson's  article  in  the  Biblical  World,  January,  1901. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  SECOND  HIGH  PLACE  AT  PETRA 

THE  next  day  we  had  the  pleasure  of  discover- 
ing a  second  4<  high  place."  Early  in  the 
morning  we  climbed  to  the  top  of  the 
"  Citadel  Rock  "  by  a  badly  ruined  road  and  stair  ; 
and,  while  examining  the  ruins  of  what  seems  to 
have  been  a  small  Crusader  fortress, — for  a  band  of 
Crusaders  once  entered  Petra, — we  saw  in  the 
gome  below,  riorht  behind  the  "  Citadel,"  cuttings 
which  recalled  the  original  high  place.  An  hour 
or  two  later,  we  made  our  way  to  the  location, 
and  found  all  the  accessories  of  a  second  "  high 
place,"  in  one  the  grandest  and  wildest  spots 
about  Petra. 

The  main  street  and  brook  in  Petra  run  from 
east  to  west,  as  pointed  out  in  a  preceding  chapter 
(p.  1 1 8).  On  the  eastern  side  of  the  city  stand 
the  Corinthian  tomb  and  a  great  temple.  Toward 
the  west,  the  main  street  passes  through  the  Arch 
of  Triumph,  in  front  of  the  Kasr  Firaun,  and  then 
by  a  gentle  incline  upwards  runs  towards  the  base 
of  the  "  Citadel  Rock,"  which  was  one  mass  of 
tombs  and  carvings.      From  the  "  Kasr  Firaun  "  to 

191 


192         The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

the  base  of  the  Citadel,  it  is  some  seventy  yards 
to  where  we  found  the  ruins  of  an  inclined  way, 
with  here  and  there  broad  steps,  leading  up  to  the 
"  Rainbow  Temple,"  which  was  formerly  and  is 
still,  one  of  the  most  beautiful  objects  in  the  valley. 
This  fine  inclined  road  is  broken  in  places  by  the 
falling  in  of  the  caves  and  tombs  beneath  it,  but 
soon  after  passing  the  "  Temple,"  it  winds  round 
the  northern  base  of  the  Citadel  Rock,  and  into 
the  exit  gorge,  by  a  gallery  cut  into  the  rock,  from 
four  to  ten  feet  wide,  with  a  solid  rock  balustrade,  at 
places  six  to  seven  feet  high.  This  gallery  where  it 
enters  the  gorge,  which  at  this  place  is  about  sixty 
feet  wide,  is  some  fifty  or  sixty  feet  above  the  floor 
of  the  brook.  It  then  continues  around  the  Rock, 
with  a  width  varying  from  three  to  fifteen  feet,  for 
a  distance  of  over  two  hundred  yards,  until  it  comes 
to  an  open  platform  of  rocks  (see  photograph  of 
the  vicinity  of  the  second  high  place),  sixty  feet 
above  the  floor  of  the  brook,  where  another  valley 
from  the  south  joins  the  gorge.  Here  we  reached 
the  altar.  Towering  rocks  two  hundred  to  four 
hundred  feet  high  surround  the  weird  spot  on  every 
side  (see  views  of  rocks  round  high  place  and  rock 
architecture).  Standing  on  the  point  beside  the 
altar,  one  looks  back  through  the  narrow  gorge, 
and  across  the  city  to  the  Corinthian  tomb  (view 
of  lower  eoree  —  looking  west  from  new  hio-h 
place),  down  the  gorge  into  an  abyss,  and  through 
a  cleft  toward  the  east  one  might  see  the  rising  sun. 
The    open    space    is    perhaps    five    hundred    feet 


1    ;  J/M 


. 


I 


i  rwiiflp 


1  ?ii  '  '  '„ 


« 


PL, 


PL, 


The  Second  Hi^h  Place  at  Petra      199 


i& 


square,  and  the  rocky  walls  on  every  side  contain 
hundreds  of  tombs  and  rooms  carved  into  the  sand- 
stone. While  not  more  than  five  hundred  yards  away 
from  the  Arch  of  Triumph,  one  might  imagine  that 
he  had  gone  a  day's  journey  into  the  heart  of 
the  mountains.  At  least  four  large  stairways,  six 
to  ten  feet  wide,  ascend  from  the  valley  below  to 
the  platform,  in  addition  to  the  gallery  leading 
from  the  main  street  of  the  city. 

And  here,  as  in  the  High  Place  above,  are  all 
the  accessories  of  worship.  The  altar  faces  the 
east  (see  plan — p.  97).  In  front  of  it  is  a  sunken 
court,  seventeen  by  eighteen  feet,  with  a  seat  around 
it  with  a  natural  rock  back.  Immediately  contiguous 
is  a  second  and  lower  sunken  court,  now  a  grass  plot 
because  filled  with  soil,  ten  by  twenty-two  feet,  and 
beyond  that  a  still  larger  cutting  in  the  rock,  making 
another  court  eighteen  by  twenty-one  feet.  At  the 
southeast  corner  of  the  grass  plot  a  large  piece 
of  the  natural  rock  is  left,  and  in  it  is  cut  a  pool, 
three  and  a  half  feet  long  by  two  feet  wide,  and 
some  eighteen  inches  deep.  In  the  bottom  of  the 
pool  is  a  smaller  cavity,  and  fitting  snugly  into  it  is 
a  stone  plug.  To  the  right  of  the  pool  is  another 
small  platform,  measuring  eight  by  ten  feet,  which 
appears  to  have  been  once  roofed  over  by  the  nat- 
ural rock.  Above  the  pool  and  platform,  on  the 
great  rock,  and  some  forty  feet  away,  are  the  re- 
mains of  a  large  pool,  seven  by  eight  and  a  half 
feet,  which,  instead  of  being  hollowed  down  into  the 
rock,  was  made  by  cutting  the  rock  away  and  leav- 


200         The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

ing  the  box-like  pool  standing  above  the  rock. 
While  much  worn  by  wind  and  rain,  one  corner 
still  shows  a  height  of  thirty-four  inches  above  the 
rock. 

Not  far  away  from  the  large  pool  are  two  circular 
cuttings  in  the  rock,  six  to  twelve  inches  deep,  sim- 
ilar to  the  round  altar  in  the  main  High  Place. 
The  photographs,  p.  197  et  seq.,  will  tell  the  rest 
of  the  story. 

To  sum  up  we  have  in  this  location: 

1.  An  altar,  much  worn,  but  with  one  libation 
hole  still  visible. 

2.  A  court,  with  seats  around  it,  with  the  remains 
of  a  back-rest,  of  the  natural  rock. 

3.  A  grass  plot,  most  likely  a  lower  court,  or  an 
extension  of  the  altar  court. 

4.  Rock  cuttings  to  enlarge  and  extend  platforms. 

5.  A  small  pool  in  the  rock,  with  a  round  cavity 
in  the  bottom. 

6.  A  recess  near  by,  once  roofed  over  by  the 
original  rock,  as  a  shelter  or  receptacle. 

7.  A  large  pool,  or  laver,  near  at  hand. 

8.  Four  stairways,  and  a  gallery  leading  to  the 
spot;  two  stairways  at  the  rock,  and  two  other  fine 
ones  within  a  hundred  and  fifty  feet. 

9.  Tombs  in  the  high  rocks  all  around  the  locality. 
That  it  was  a  public  gathering-place  is  evident 

from  the  various  approaches,  wide  enough  to  ac- 
commodate any  formal  procession.  That  it  was  in- 
tended for  worship  is  almost  as  certain.  That  it 
belongs  to  the  centuries   before  the  Christian  era 


£ 


o 


W 


Oh 


The  Second  High  Place  at  Petra      207 


is 


is  evident  from  the  numberless  considerations  drawn 
from  the  history  of  the  city  and  region. 

The  more  we  explored,  the  deeper  grew  the  con- 
viction that  similar  places  of  worship  will  yet  be 
found  in  other  parts  of  the  city  and  its  surrounding 
rocky  rampart.  Up  at  the  place  called  the  Deir, 
we  saw  many  rocks  circled  with  stairways  reaching 
to  their  summits.  These  stairways  are  in  most 
cases  worn  away  in  places  by  wind  and  weather, 
making  it  difficult  to  mount  these  isolated  rocks. 
It  may  possibly  be  that  the  main  high  place  was 
the  "  Cathedral "  of  the  city,  and  the  second  high 
place  a  sort  of  winter  church,  much  easier  of 
access,  the  same  arrangement  beine  found  in  the 
case  of  the  "  sun  temples  "  of  Northern  Syria,  which 
are  frequently  arranged  in  pairs,  one  high  above 
the  city  or  village  on  a  mountain-top,  available  in 
summer  for  the  purpose  of  worship,  and  a  second 
structure,  in  the  town  itself,  accessible  in  the  colder 
and  stormier  days  of  the  winter.1 

1  As  seen  at  Bludan,  Niha,  Hadeth,  and  Liaalbec  itself. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  DEIR 

FREQUENT  reference  has  already  been  made 
to  the  many  fissures  or  ravines  which  extend 
from  the  floor  of  the  valley  up  into  the  heart 
of  the  rocky  walls  of  the  city.  We  have  noticed 
three  in  connection  with  the  High  Place,  but  the 
northern  wall  of  the  amphitheatre  is  indented  with 
at  least  half  a  dozen  of  them,  as  yet  largely  unex- 
plored. But  the  most  remarkable  and  by  far  the 
most  interesting  one  is  that  leading  to  the  Deir.  It 
lies  close  against  the  northern  half  of  the  western 
wall,  and  after  running  due  north  for  some  six  hun- 
dred yards,  it  turns  at  right  angles  and  extends 
nearly  due  west  for  another  eight  hundred  yards. 
The  winding  path  and  stairways  would  stretch  per- 
haps twice  this  distance,  since  the  elevation  of  the 
Deir  above  our  camp  was  more  than  seven  hundred 
feet. 

Leaving  camp  we  crossed  the  brook  at  the  mouth 
of  the  exit  gorge,  and  turned  up  the  bed  of  a  tor- 
rent more  than  a  hundred  feet  wide  at  its  point  of 
juncture  with  the  gorge,  but  narrowing  rapidly  un- 
til one  could  almost  touch  the  walls  on  each  side 

208 


The  Deir  211 

with  the  outstretched  hands  (photograph,  Road  to 
Deir,  p.  215).  Then  we  left  the  torrent  bed  to 
ascend  a  staircase  hewn  out  of  the  rocks.  The 
steps  are  not  continuous,  except  at  steep  places ; 
here  a  flight  of  ten,  then  a  curving  incline,  then  a 
flight  of  forty;  sometimes  the  steps  are  a  series  of 
platforms,  placed  four  and  five  feet  apart,  and  then 
they  mount  as  steeply  as  the  pitch  of  the  ascent 
demands.  Often  it  is  ten  feet  from  side  to  side 
of  the  roadway,  and  passing  through  the  various 
strata  the  colors  include  all  that  can  be  seen  or 
found  in  Petra. 

The  ascending  road  winds  past  beautiful  nooks, 
where  the  seats  and  niches  and  cuttings  rival  the 
Fairy  Dell,  as  seen  in  the  photograph,  p.  165  (Ascent 
to  Deir)  ;  then  along  the  brink  of  a  precipice,  be- 
low which  is  a  fissure  almost  equalling  the  Sik 
(Road  to  Deir,  Looking  West).  At  places  a  bal- 
ustrade of  the  natural  rock  has  been  left,  but  at 
others  we  looked  directly  down  into  the  yawning 
abyss.  For  nearly  the  whole  of  the  distance  the 
cliffs  and  little  side  fissures  are  filled  with  number- 
less excavations.  Stairways  seem  to  run  every- 
where, some  with  no  beginning,  some  with  no 
ending,  leading  to  caves  that  have  crumbled  away, 
or  to  the  top  of  rocks  now  inaccessible.  Again, 
we  noted  the  little  channels  and  pools  to  catch  the 
rain  or  to  convert  its  flow  into  miniature  cascades, 
which  added  an  artistic  charm  to  the  pathway. 

At  one  point  we  saw  an  extensive  system  of 
channels  and  pools,  in  which   to   catch   and   store 


212         The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

the  precious  rain-water.  Here,  as  everywhere  else 
in  Petra,  the  winds  and  the  storms  have  eroded  the 
colored  sandstones  into  ten  thousand  curious  shapes, 
and  everywhere  thrown  a  veil  of  decay  over  the  cut- 
tings and  chisellings  that  enhance  the  charm  many 
fold.      It  is  another  journey  up  into  fairyland. 

At  length  the  road  made  some  final  curves  among- 
the  boulders  of  the  white  strata  of  sandstone  and 
emerged  in  the  wide  plaza  of  the  Deir,  a  sloping 
space  many  hundreds  of  feet  from  side  to  side,  and 
surrounded  with  the  same  fantastic  rocky  tops  that 
appear  everywhere  above  the  Petra  mass.  At  the 
right  of  the  road  as  it  enters  this  square,  and  on  its 
lower  side,  stands  the  second  great  monument  in 
Petra,  called  the  Deir  or  monastery  (photograph, 
p.  225).  It  is  carved  from  the  side  of  a  mountain- 
top,  but  not  protected  by  any  overhanging  mass. 
It  is  larger  than  the  Treasury,  being  a  hundred  and 
fifty-one  feet  wide  and  a  hundred  and  forty-two 
feet  high,1  but  not  nearly  so  fine  in  coloring  or  de- 
sign. It  is  impressive  in  its  size,  in  its  surround- 
ings, but  it  cannot  be  called  beautiful.  Stanley 
compares  it  with  a  London  church  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century,  massive,  but  in  poor  taste,  and 
with  a  somewhat  debased  style  of  ornamentation. 
Like  the  Treasury,  it  is  in  two  stories,  and  sur- 
mounted by  an  urn  and  ball  of  stone.  The  five 
niches  may  once  have  contained  statues,  but  these 
decorations,  if  they  existed,  evidently  were  not 
carved  from  the  native  rock. 

1  Hornstein's  figures. 


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The  Deir  217 

A  colossal  doorway,  thirty  feet  high  and  seven- 
teen feet  wide,  opens  into  the  single  large  room, 
carved  in  the  rock  behind  it.  Like  the  room  at  the 
Treasury,  it  is  nearly  a  hollow  cube,  measuring  thirty- 
six  feet  nine  inches  by  thirty-nine  feet  eight  inches. 
At  the  north  end  of  the  room,  opposite  the  doorway, 
is  a  recess  carved  in  the  rock,  fourteen  feet  wide  by 
eight  feet  deep,  and  is  approached  by  steps  from 
either  side,  which  lead  to  its  floor.  It  is  raised  four 
feet  above  the  floor  of  the  main  room.  Travellers 
have  called  this  an  altar  for  a  Christian  church,  and 
there  is  good  reason  for  accepting  this  explanation, 
since  the  Deir  has  certainly  served  such  a  purpose 
at  some  period  of  its  history. 

The  "Deir"  means  the  "  Monastery,"  and  the 
existence  of  this  name  is  a  pretty  positive  clue  to  a 
time  when  Christians  inhabited  Petra.  Moham- 
medans at  the  time  of  their  invasion  honored 
Pharaoh  and  Moses  in  the  new  place-names  for 
Petra,  and  completely  ignored  the  Horites,  the 
Edomites,  the  Idumeans,  and  the  Romans.  It  is 
just  as  certain  that  they  never,  of  their  own  accord, 
gave  the  name  of  a  Christian  place  of  worship  to 
any  spot.  They  must  have  found  the  name  of 
"  monastery "  clinging  to  the  building  when  they 
entered  and  took  possession.  Nor  did  the  Mo- 
hammedans ever  carve  the  altar-like  recess,  and  it 
is  also  certain  that  Christians  have  not  permanently 
inhabited  Petra  since  the  time  of  the  Mohammedan 
invasion.  The  city  was  occupied  by  Baldwin  I.  of 
Jerusalem,  and  formed  the  second  fief  of  the  barony 


218         The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

of  Krak  (Kerak),  under  the  title  of  Chateau  de  la 
Vallee  de  Moyse  or  Sela.  It  remained  in  the  hands 
of  the  Franks  till  1189,  and  the  statement  exists 
that  as  late  as  1 2 1  7  there  was  a  small  monastery  on 
Mount  Hor.  But  quite  likely  in  the  days  of  the 
Christian  occupation  of  the  Madeba  plain,  and  the 
hallowing  of  such  sites  as  Nebo,  Christian  men  did 
not  forget  that  not  far  off  Aaron  slept  on  Mount 
Hor;  and  the  view  from  the  upper  edge  of  the 
plaza,  where  this  monastery  stands,  commands  the 
finest  possible  view  of  Aaron's  grave  and  mountain, 
just  across  the  yawning  chasm  which  carries  the 
Wady  Musa  brook  from  Petra  toward  the  Dead 
Sea. 

But  the  original  purpose  of  the  plaza  and  its 
vicinity,  whatever  its  name  may  have  been,  was 
that  of  a  great  pleasure  resort.  Immediately  in 
front  of  the  Deir,  on  what  is  almost  a  greensward, 
we  traced  the  circle  of  a  theatre,  which  had  a  back 
wall  of  masonry  and  several  rows  of  seats.  The 
circle  is  still  plainly  marked.  No  matter  what 
the  state  of  the  country  may  have  been  outside  the 
valley,  while  the  city  guards  held  the  strong  en- 
trance of  the  Sik  the  whole  of  the  inhabitants  of 
the  wealthy  city  could  climb  the  rocky  stairways 
and  make  holiday  here  in  absolute  security  from 
every  enemy.  As  far  as  we  can  see  or  learn,  the 
spot  is  wholly  inaccessible,  except  by  the  one  rocky 
stairway  and  winding  path  up  which  we  came. 
Again  we  were  impressed  by  the  taste  and  skill  of 
those  ancient  races,  in  finding  and  utilizing  such  a 


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The  Deir  223 

grand  spot.  It  is  true  that  the  effects  of  brilliant 
coloring  fade,  as  one  climbs  higher  by  this  path,  but 
when  once  the  mountain-top  is  gained,  other  charms 
comes  into  play  :  the  crystalline  atmosphere,  the 
ragged,  fantastic  bits  of  the  wildest  forms  of  na- 
ture, and  then  the  extensive  views,  first  of  the 
whole  Petra  mass,  then  of  the  plateau  from  which 
we  first  saw  the  region  ;  and,  lastly,  of  the  chasms 
and  abysses  toward  Mount  Hor,  leading  down  to  the 
Arabah,  which  sometimes  stretch  away  southward 
toward  the  Gulf  of  Akabah. 

Opposite  the  Deir  once  stood  a  peak  about  a 
hundred  feet  high,  and  in  its  face,  toward  the  plaza, 
stood  a  most  elaborate  temple.  The  bases  of 
columns  still  mark  the  portico  in  front ;  and  behind 
them  are  the  remains  of  the  great  inner  rooms, 
which  extended  back  into  the  solid  rock.  It  was 
a  massive  structure,  larger  than  the  Deir  itself. 
Above  this  temple,  on  the  top  of  the  peak,  are  the 
ruins  of  what  was  once  a  lar^e  tower.  From  this 
exalted  spot  the  views  are  superb  in  every  direc- 
tion, except  where  one  mountain  mass  cuts  off  the 
region  of  the  Dead  Sea. 

There  is  not  a  rock  or  a  cliff  within  a  thousand 
feet  of  this  plaza  which  does  not  show  the  traces 
of  human  handiwork.  Doors  and  windows  abound, 
indicating  the  existence  of  rooms  behind  them,  and 
stairways  in  all  stages  of  ruin  run  up  and  down  in 
every  direction.  A  number  of  rocks  have  been  cut 
into  huge  cubes,  and  their  upper  surfaces  lead  one 
to  think  that  they  were  once  surmounted  by  the 


224         The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

familiar  pyramidal  masses.  Other  detached  rocks 
are  encircled  with  stairways,  making  one  suspect 
the  existence  of  small  "  high  places."  We  climbed 
several  and  found  cuttings  that  suggested  pools  and 
even  altars,  but  the  lack  of  time  and  the  want  of 
ropes  and  ladders  made  a  careful  examination  im- 
possible. We  carried  away  the  impression  that 
somewhere  in  this  region  will  be  found  another 
high  place  to  match,  perhaps  to  surpass,  that 
in  the  city  itself  !  The  one  isolated  rock,  which 
seemed  to  exhibit  the  closest  resemblance  to  the  re- 
mains of  platform,  pool,  altar,  and  drainage,  looks 
down  the  magnificent  gorge  into  the  city,  in  just 
the  same  manner  as  the  other  High  Place  com- 
mands a  view  of  the  city.  It  is  also  probable  that 
the  higher  masses  behind  the  Deir  may  yield  up 
some  new  treasures  for  the  Biblical  archaeologist. 
We  thought  we  could  see  the  decayed  bases  of  two 
pillars,  with  traces  of  carving  about  them,  but  were 
not  able  to  climb  up  to  them. 

As  we  reviewed  the  whole  conception  of  that 
rocky  stairway,  mounting  seven  hundred  feet  from 
the  brook,  penetrating  into  the  heart  of  the  mount- 
ain, following-  the  windings  of  the  fantastic  gorge, 
crossing  every  stratum  of  the  many-hued  sandstone  ; 
the  steps,  now  yellow,  now  red,  now  banded,  now 
white,  now  waving  like  a  banner  in  the  wind  ;  the 
sides  of  the  roadway  adorned  with  seats  and  pools, 
and  tablets  and  shrines  ;  the  smaller  fissures  filled 
with  stairways  leading  into  nooks  unseen  and  un- 
suspected ;  the  deep  cuttings  undertaken  wherever 


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The  Deir  227 

the  precipice  left  a  space  for  a  human  foot ;  then 
this  plaza  surrounded  by  the  wildest  beauties  of 
nature  and  the  most  wonderful  structures  ;  the  views 
down  the  gorge  into  the  city,  over  the  whole  Petra 
mass,  over  the  chasms  to  Mount  Hor  and  Aaron's 
tomb,  and  down  the  Arabah — it  seemed  to  us  that 
the  combination  is  certainly  one  that  no  other  city 
on  earth  can  easily  equal.  And  again  and  again  we 
were  forced  to  recognize  the  superior  genius  of  the 
spirits  and  men  who  saw  the  possibilities  of  the  sit- 
uation, and  added  to  nature  the  charms  of  art. 

While  we  were  wrapt  in  the  contemplation  of  the 
beauties  of  the  scene,  an  episode  occurred  that  ap- 
pealed to  another  side  of  our  nature,  the  very  mem- 
ory of  which  causes  one's  heart  to  sink.  We  had 
been  informed  of  the  existence  of  the  ibex  in  these 
mountain  fastnesses,  but  somehow  the  o-uide 
Musa  did  not  make  the  matter  impressive  enough. 
So,  thinking  only  of  the  existence  of  blue  rock  pig- 
eons and  partridges,  we  made  the  sad  mistake  of 
carrying  only  a  shotgun  and  the  camera,  leaving 
both  Winchester  rifles  at  the  tents.  While  one  of 
us  was  on  the  peak  admiring  the  views  and  the 
other  was  manipulating  the  camera,  we  were  dis- 
turbed and  amazed  by  seeing  seven  ibex  come  out 
of  a  gorge,  run  across  the  greensward,  and  disap- 
pear into  a  narrow  ravine  !  The  man  on  the  peak 
came  down  at  a  pace  that  endangered  his  life  and 
limbs,  and  made  breathlessly  for  the  opening  of  the 
ravine,  expecting  to  find  the  seven  graceful  crea- 
tures caught  as  in  a  trap.      But  what  was  our  con- 


228         The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

sternation,  our  dismay,  and  our  despair  to  see  those 
seven  ibex  go  cantering  up  the  apparently  impos- 
sible rocks,  not  more  than  a  hundred  yards  away, 
at  the  speed  of  an  express  train  !  One  bullet  drop- 
ped hastily  into  the  choke-bore  was  sent  flying  in 
vain  at  the  receding  figures.  With  our  rifles  we 
could  have  fired  half  a  dozen  shots  before  they  dis- 
appeared. None  but  a  real  hunter  will  ever  know 
the  emotions  of  our  hearts,  and  the  impression 
made  of  what  might  have  been  !  Some  uncompli- 
mentary remarks  were  flung  out  concerning  the 
whole  art  of  photography,  as  our  first  chance  to 
shoot  an  ibex,  and  perhaps  our  last,  slipped  away 
forever. 

On  our  way  down  we  failed  to  enjoy  the  beauties 
of  the  fadinQf  sunlight  in  the  eora-e,  because  those 
seven  ibex  kept  running  across  the  seat  of  memory 
in  our  brains.  The  blue  rock  pigeons  seemed  to 
mock  us,  and  the  partridges  clucked  more  defiantly 
than  ever.  We  paused  long  enough  to  discover 
and  photograph  an  ancient  Roman  hand-mill,  cut 
from  a  block  of  basalt.  It  lacks  the  cone  of  ba- 
salt upon  which  it  fitted  and  revolved,  but  shows 
plainly  the  sockets  into  which  its  handles  fitted. 

We  went  to  rest  early  that  evening,  but  all  night 
long  those  seven  ibex  kept  galloping  over  the  rocks, 
and  we,  in  our  dreams,  were  hunting  in  vain  for  the 
rifles  ! 


CHAPTER   X 

MOUNT   HOR 

THE  region  of  Petra,  and  more  especially  of 
Mount  Hor,  is  "paved  with  the  good  in- 
tentions "  of  travellers  unfulfilled.  Burck- 
hardt  (1811)  struggled  hard  to  ascend  Mount  Hor, 
but  was  obliged  to  halt  on  the  little  plain  half-way 
up,  without  reaching  the  top.  Neither  Laborde 
(1827),  nor  Robinson  (1838),  was  allowed  to  make 
the  attempt.  Many  other  parties  since  their  day 
have  seen  the  white  tomb  on  its  summit  from  afar, 
and  sadly  against  their  will  turned  away  from  it 
forever.  But  since  the  roads  have  been  better 
known,  and  travellers  have  been  able  to  dispense 
with  native  guides,  the  ascent  has  been  made  by 
a  number  who  have  left  some  records  of  their 
experiences. 

The  difficulties  are  not  physical,  but  arise  from 
the  jealousy,  the  cupidity,  and  the  superstitions  of 
the  people,  who  claim  the  shrine  and  guard  its  ap- 
proaches. The  Bedawin  who  roam  over  the  land 
of  Edom  have  been  described  by  travellers  as  the 
worst  of  their  race.  Pococke  speaks  of  the  Arabs 
about  Akabah  and  the  Arabah  as  bad  people.      He 

231 


232         The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

calls  them  notorious  robbers,  who  are  always  at 
war  with  all  others.  Joliffe  alludes  to  the  district 
as  one  of  the  wildest  divisions  of  Arabia.  Burck- 
hardt  says  that  in  this  region  he  felt  fear  for  the 
first  and  only  time  during  his  travels  in  the  desert, 
and  that  this  route  was  the  most  dangerous  he 
ever  travelled.  He  had  nothing  with  him  that 
ought  to  have  attracted  the  notice  of  the  Bedawin, 
or  have  excited  their  cupidity,  and  yet  they  even 
stripped  him  of  some  rags  that  covered  his  wounded 
ankles.  Leigh  and  Banks,  and  Irby  and  Mangles 
(1818),  were  told  that  the  Arabs  of  Wady  Musa 
were  a  most  savage  and  treacherous  race,  murder- 
ing pilgrims  from  Barbary,  and  acting  toward  all 
comers  as  the  Edomites  did  toward  the  Israelites, 
when  they  refused  them  passage  through  this  coun- 
try on  the  way  to  the  Promised  Land.  It  is  a 
mystery  why  this  ancient,  world-old  churlishness 
should  appear  in  the  modern  dwellers,  but  so  it  is. 
They  seem  to  have  drawn  it  from  the  soil  or  to 
have  absorbed  it  from  the  fountains.  But  what- 
ever its  explanation,  here  it  is,  three  thousand  years 
and  more  since  Moses  was  rebuffed. 

Aaron's  tomb  on  Hor  is  now  a  Moslem  shrine. 
Like  Moses'  tomb  below  Nebo  it  has  been  coveted 
and  fought  for  by  Christians,  and  more  especially 
by  Jews,  whose  reverence  for  both  these  Israelite 
heroes  is  well  known  to  the  Moslems.  It  will  be 
woe  to  the  poor  Jew,  for  many  years  to  come,  who 
is  found  within  twenty-five  miles  of  that  sacred 
spot  on  Hor  ! 


Mount  Hor  235 

Another  element  entering  into  the  situation  is 
the  deeply  rooted  superstition  connected  with  the 
tomb,  according  to  which  the  people  firmly  be- 
lieve that  evil  will  surely  befall,  before  the  year  is 
out,  the  wretched  man  who  commits  the  sacrilege 
of  aiding  or  guiding  any  stranger  to  the  sacred 
spot  at  the  top  of  the  mount.  It  is  true  that  their 
cupidity  now  and  then  overcomes  their  fears,  but 
the  deep-rooted  superstition  and  the  dread  of  evil 
raise  the  price  demanded.  As  late  as  1883  the 
party  made  up  of  Kitchener,  Armstrong,  and  Hull, 
paid  ^"34  ($170.00)  for  the  privilege  of  one  day  to 
visit  Mount  Hor,  and  afterwards  passing  through 
Petra.  Ordinarily  the  amount  of  bakhshish  de- 
pends upon  the  number  of  men  who  get  wind  of 
the  strangers'  coming,  and  who  reach  the  spot  in 
time  to  claim  a  share.  It  is  then  "many  men, 
many  money."  When  their  superstitions  and  cu- 
pidity have  not  availed,  they  have  often  thwarted 
parties  by  threatening  to  plunder  their  camp  or  car- 
avans while  the  owners  were  climbing  the  moun- 
tain, and  a  party  strong  enough  to  hold  its  own 
while  united,  dared  not  sub-divide  itself  and  become 
an  easy  prey  to  the  unscrupulous  people. 

Even  at  the  present  time  they  will  not  act  as 
guides  up  Mount  Hor,  no  matter  how  willing  they 
are  to  serve  a  camp  in  Petra.  Our  man  Musa 
begged  off  from  having  anything  to  do  with  our 
going  up  Mount  Hor.  He  afterwards  compro- 
mised with  his  conscience,  and  promised  to  meet 
us  on  the  top  if  we  ever  reached  there.      He  kept 


236         The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

his  promise  and  appeared  on  the  summit,  but  we 
never  learned  how  he  placated  the  "  Neby  "  or  the 
villagers,  who  would  have  killed  him  had  they  seen 
him. 

Travellers  who  wish  to  visit  Aaron's  tomb  must 
allow  at  least  six  hours  for  the  trip  if  they  wish  to 
return  to  Petra.  We  were  two  hours  on  horse- 
back from  camp  to  the  base  of  the  peak.  The  latter 
part  of  the  ascent  must  be  made  on  foot.  We  rode 
from  camp  to  within  fifteen  minutes  of  the  summit, 
and  in  the  course  of  our  journey  proved  con- 
clusively the  existence  of  a  second  road  leading 
out  of  the  Petra  valley.  Our  route  led  up  the 
southern  slope  from  the  brook,  past  a  solitary 
column  standing  on  the  watershed,  and  down  into 
the  small  ravines  which  drain  into  the  gorge  be- 
hind the  Citadel  Rock.  Then  passing  up  a  dry 
torrent-bed,  lying  parallel  to  and  not  far  from  the 
great  western  wall,  we  moved  southward,  ascend- 
ing all  the  time,  until  we  came  to  the  southeastern 
corner  of  the  Petra  valley.  The  bed  of  the  ravine 
gave  place  to  a  broad  road,  which  wound  beauti- 
fully among  the  humps  of  colored  sandstone  until 
it  began  to  mount  rapidly  in  great  curves  to  a 
break  in  the  ramparts,  through  which  it  passed 
easily  into  the  open  country  or  plateau  beyond. 
The  photograph  marked  "Road  to  Mount  Hor" 
gives  a  backward  view  of  the  road  from  a  point 
near  the  exit  and  much  higher  up.  The  nearer  we 
came  to  the  exit  the  greater  the  amount  of  excava- 
tion, but  the  rock  here  being  of  the  softer  white 


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Mount  Hor  239 

strata  these  excavations  have  almost  melted  into 
complete  ruin.  We  noticed  the  existence  of  huge 
cube-shaped  blocks  guarding  the  entrance  from 
this  quarter,  just  as  we  found  them  at  the  entrance 
of  the  Sik.  At  the  extreme  outer  face  of  the 
sunken  rampart  are  two  massive  pedestals,  measur- 
ing ten  by  eighteen  feet. 

The  road  leading  out  of  Petra  at  this  point  is 
called  the  Gaza  road,  because  after  two  hours  it 
swings  round  south  of  Mount  Hor,  climbs  the  low 
ridge,  and  drops  into  a  ravine  which  leads  to  the 
Arabah,  from  which  it  finds  its  way  across  Southern 
Judea  to  the  seacoast  at  Gaza.  This  road  was 
once  a  Roman  road,  as  is  plainly  seen  at  a  score 
of  points.  It  crosses  the  plateau  in  sight  of  the 
deep  exit  gorge  of  the  Wady  Musa  brook,  and 
then  strikes  into  a  winding  valley  that  ascends 
gently  to  the  south,  almost  parallel  with  the  mass 
of  Mount  Hor.  After  three  quarters  of  an  hour  's 
ride  from  the  two  pedestals  marking  the  exit  from 
Petra,  a  smaller  road  leaves  the  main  one  at  right 
angles  and  begins  to  climb  the  steep  slope  towards 
Aaron's  tomb,  which  is  visible  at  many  points 
along  the  main  road  after  it  emerges  from  the 
Petra  valley.  A  stiff  climb  of  nearly  an  hour, 
over  a  very  rough  bit  of  road  which  winds  back  and 
forward  round  the  base  of  the  peak,  brought  us 
to  the  saddle  between  the  two  highest  masses, 
and  we  dismounted  at  some  lizari  trees,  which  grow 
in  a  notch  of  the  peak. 

J  ust  here  is  a  wide,  sloping  space,  where  thousands 


240         The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

of  men  and  animals  can  and  do  camp  in  the  open 
air,  at  the  annual  feast  and  pilgrimage  to  the  shrine. 
We  saw  only  one  human  being  by  the  way,  and  we 
went  well  armed  but  unattended  by  any  one,  except 
Mustapha  the  Kurd,  who  was  in  ill-humor  all  day, 
but  obliged  to  go  along  and  care  for  the  three 
horses. 

We  carried  luncheon  and  a  supply  of  water,  for 
Musa  had  assured  us  that  no  water  existed  outside 
of  the  valley.  We  found  later  that  even  Musa 
could  lie,  for  in  the  same  notch,  a  hundred  feet 
higher  up,  was  an  excellent  cistern  in  which  was 
water  in  abundance,  but  unobtainable  except  by 
the  use  of  a  fifty-foot  rope  and  some  vessel  to  draw 
it  with.  Musa  joined  us  before  luncheon,  but 
seemed  to  be  in  mortal  dread  lest  some  inhabitant 
of  the   region   should   see   and    recognize  him. 

The  last  two  hundred  feet  of  the  climb  is  up  the 
steep  rock  by  means  of  long  stairways,  steeper 
than  any  ladder,  and  positively  dangerous  at 
places.  There  are  many  traces  of  other  stairways, 
which  have  been  hewn  in  the  rock,  used  for  cen- 
turies, worn  out,  and  abandoned.  We  left  Mus- 
tapha to  guard  the  animals,  and  had  Musa  with  us 
for  the  final  climb,  which  was  a  stiff  one  of  fully 
fifteen  minutes. 

Travellers  coming  from  the  south  speak  of  Mount 
Hor  as  the  highest  mountain  in  sight  along  the 
route.  Its  mass  of  reddish  sandstone  and  con- 
glomerate "  rises  in  a  precipitous  wall  of  natural 
masonry,  tier  above  tier,  with  its  face  to  the  west. 


Mount  Hor  243 

The  base  of  the  cliff  of  sandstone  rests  upon  a  solid 
ridge  of  granite  and  porphyry,  and  the  summit 
of  the  sandstone  is  somewhat  in  the  form  of 
a  rude  pyramid."  "  No  more  grand  monument 
could  be  erected  to  the  memory  of  a  man  honored 
of  God,  than  that  which  nature  has  here  reared 
up.  For  amidst  this  region  of  natural  pyra- 
mids, Jebel  Haroun  towers  supreme. 
Jehovah  in  passing  sentence  of  premature  death 
upon  His  servant,  for  a  public  act  of  disobedience, 
left  him  not  to  die  without  honor,  and  forever  after 
the  most  conspicuous  peak  in  all  this  country  has 
been  inseparably  connected  with  his  name  and 
stands  as  a  monument  to  his  memory."  l 

Mount  Hor,  called  by  the  Arabs  "Jebel  Haroun," 
or  Aaron's  Mount,  is  one  of  the  few  spots  connected 
with  the  wanderings  of  the  Israelites  which  ad- 
mits of  no  reasonable  doubt.  Dr.  H.  C.  Trumbull 
has  suggested  Jebel  Madirah,  an  isolated  hill  near 
Ain  Kadis,  as  the  real  scene  of  Aaron's  death.2 
Travellers  who    have   visited  both  locations   have 

1  Hull  (1883). 

8  The  twentieth  chapter  of  Numbers,  23-29,  gives  the  account  of  Aaron's 
death. 

23.  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses  and  Aaron  in  mount  Hor,  by  the 
coast  of  the  land  of  Edom,  saying, 

24.  Aaron  shall  be  gathered  unto  his  people;  for  he  shall  not  enter  into 
the  land  which  I  have  given  unto  the  Children  of  Israel,  because  ye  rebelled 
against  my  word  at  the  water  of  Meribah. 

25.  Take  Aaron  and  Eleazar  his  son,  and  bring  them  up  unto  mount  Hor; 

26.  And  strip  Aaron  of  his  garments,  and  put  them  upon  Eleazar  his  son: 
and  Aaron  shall  be  gathered  unto  his  people,  and  shall  die  there. 

27.  And  Moses  did  as  the  Lord  commanded:  and  they  went  up  into 
mount  Hor  in  the  sight  of  all  the  congregation. 

28.  And    Moses    stripped    Aaron    of  his    garments,  and  put  them  upon 


244         The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

little  hesitation  in  affirming  that  this  peak  in  Edom 
more  perfectly  fulfils  all  the  requirements  of  the 
Bible  narrative. 

"It  may  also  be  presumed  that  as  Moses  was 
permitted  to  view  the  land  of  Canaan  from  Mount 
Nebo,  Aaron  was  permitted  to  do  the  same  from 
Mount  Hor.  The  summit  of  Mount  Hor  affords 
a  commanding-  prospect  of  the  great  valley  of  the 
Arabah,  and  the  borders  of  Seir,  of  the  depression 
of  the  Ghor  itself,  and  the  table-land  of  Southern 
Palestine  ;  and  we  may  well  suppose  the  eyes  of 
the  high  priest  of  Israel  were  allowed  to  rest  upon 
the  hills  of  Judea  ere  he  resigned  his  priestly  robes 
and  prepared  himself  for  his  resting-place,  perhaps 
in  the  little  cave  which  is  covered  by  a  Moham- 
medan shrine,  whose  white  walls  are  visible  to  the 
traveller  for  many  miles  around."  1 

Stephens  noticed  an  aperture  in  the  floor  of  the 
shrine,  and,  descending,  found  a  narrow  chamber, 
at  the  end  of  which  was  an  iron  grating  and  behind 
it  a  tomb  cut  in  the  native  rock.  No  writer  makes 
special  mention  of  it  since.  Sir  Charles  Wilson  in 
iSgS  made  a  careful  examination  of  the  interior, 
but  makes  no  reference  to  any  subterranean  apart- 
ment.     It  has  been  repaired  many  times  within  the 

Eleazar  his  son;  and  Aaron  died  there  in  the  top  of  the  mount:  and  Moses 
and  Eleazar  came  down  from  the  mount 

29.  And  when  all  the  congregation  saw  that  Aaron  was  dead,  they 
mourned  for  Aaron  thirty  days,  even  all  the  house  of  Israel. 

It  is  to  be  noted  here  that  the  Bible  says  expressly  that  "  Aaron  died 
there  on  the  top  of  the  mount." 

1  Hull  (1SS3). 


Mount  Hor  247 

century,  and  it  may  be  that  the  present  guardians 
have  sealed  the  lower  tomb  up  by  extending  the 
new  pavement  over  the  aperture.  Sir  Charles 
Wilson  says  :  "  The  present  structure  has  evidently 
taken  the  place  of  a  Byzantine  shrine,  for  we  found 
one  stone  with  a  cross  upon  it,  and  another  with  a 
mutilated  Greek  inscription."  We  noticed  quite 
extensive  ruins  on  the  west  face  of  the  southern 
horn  of  the  peak,  some  five  hundred  yards  away, 
but  did  not  visit  them.1  The  Christian  name  pre- 
served in  the  Deir,  just  across  the  ravine,  and  the 
existence  of  crosses  and  Greek  inscriptions  here 
on  Mount  Hor,  together  form  a  beginning  of  the 
evidence  which  may  some  day  substantiate  the 
early  Christian  occupation  of  all  the  region,  and  add 
their  testimony  to  the  identification  of  these  Old 
Testament  sites. 

The  tomb  as  we  found  it  is  shown  in  the  photo- 
graph, p.  241.  It  had  been  repaired,  replastered, 
and  whitewashed  within  a  few  months.  The  door 
was  firmly  closed  and  locked,  so  we  made  no  at- 
tempt to  examine  the  interior.  We  were  fortunate 
in  having  a  perfect  winter  day  for  our  ascent,  and 
having  climbed  to  the  flat  roof  of  the  tomb  we  en- 
joyed the  splendid  view.  East  and  south  were  the 
ruddy  tops  of  the  mountains  of  Edom.  Some  have 
compared  the  desolation  of  the  scene  with  the  wild- 
ness  of  the  region  about  Sinai.  It  is  true  that  they 
are  bare  and  naked  of  trees  and  verdure,  but  the 

1  They  may  be  the  ruins  of  the  Crusader  monastery  mentioned  as  existing 

here  as  late  as  1217. 


248         The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

fantastic  shapes  into  which  they  are  weathered  and 
the  subdued  glow  of  their  coloring  go  far  toward 
redeeming  them  from  utter  desolation.  West- 
ward  we  looked  over  a  still  more  desolate  extent 
of  twisted  strata,  impassable  gorges,  bottomless 
ravines,  to  the  plain  and  desert  of  the  Arabah, 
which  was  visible  for  fully  fifty  miles  of  its  extent, 
while  beyond  it  were  the  lower  masses  of  Southern 
Judea. 

Toward  the  northwest  lay  the  southern  end  of 
the  Dead  Sea ;  and  the  Lisan,  which  extends  far 
out  into  its  waters  from  the  base  of  the  mountains 
of  Moab,  was  plainly  visible.  The  view  north,  (see 
photograph,  p.  245)  gives  an  excellent  idea  of  the 
rocky  wall  which  shuts  in  the  Petra  vaL^y.  On 
top  of  this  mass,  across  the  chasm  lying  between, 
we  could  plainly  see  the  Deir,  white  and  clean 
against  the  darker  mass  behind  and  around  it 
Nearer  views  of  some  of  the  peaks  reveal  a  rugged 
grandeur  that  is  indescribable. 

It  is  true  that  in  this  wide  landscape  there  is  a 
"scarcity  of  marked  features,"  compared  with  some 
other  views  in  Syria  and  the  Holy  Land,  but  it 
also  remains  true  that  the  outlook  from  Mount 
Hor  is  one  of  the  grandest  conceivable  over  a  waste 
of  mountain  solitude  and  the  chasm  of  the  Dead 
Sea.  Our  barometers  registered  forty-six  hundred 
feet1 ;  adding  to  this  the  twelve  hundred  and  ninety 
feet,  we  have  a  depth  of  fifty-eight  hundred  and 

1  The  height  given  by  Kitchener  in  18S3  is  45S0  as  determined  by  trian 
gulation. 


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Mount  Hor  251 

ninety  feet  to  the  shores  of  the  Salt  Sea.  And  be- 
tween its  steel-blue  waters  and  the  ruddy  peaks 
around  Mount  Hor  lies  one  of  the  grandest  sweeps 
of  nature's  wildest  handiwork  that  can  fall  beneath 
the  eye  of  man.  Lord  Kitchener  describes  it  as 
follows  :  "  The  scenery  is  exceptionally  fine,  and  I 
do  not  consider  former  writers  have  exaggerated 
the  grand  appearance  of  Mount  Hor  ;  the  brilliant 
colors  of  the  rocks  have  been  remarked  by  all  trav- 
ellers, but  surpassed  what  I  expected  to  find." 

The  bird's-eye  view  obtained  from  the  top  of 
Mount  Hor  threw  a  flood  of  light  upon  some 
structural  problems  which  had  been  taking  shape 
in  our  minds  from  the  time  we  left  Banias  up  to 
this  moment.  They  were  not  much  advanced  be- 
yond the  stage  of  a  theory  until  we  crossed  the 
Arabah  on  our  return  journey,  when  we  obtained  so 
much  additional  evidence  upon  the  subject  which 
supported  the  theory  that  it  is  given  at  this  point, 
because  it  was  on  Mount  Hor  that  the  theory 
really  emerged  in  our  minds.  That  it  is  at  vari- 
ance with  the  theories  usually  advanced  for  the 
formation  of  the  valley  has  nothing  to  do  with  the 
case.  If  the  evidence  brought  forward  in  its  sup- 
port is  not  sufficient  it  will  nevertheless  have  served 
the  purpose  of  calling  attention  to  some  factors  in 
the  problem  heretofore  overlooked. 

In  order  to  have  the  subject  clearly  in  mind,  it 
may  be  well  to  state  the  problem  as  follows  : 

Every  one,  it  is  believed,  is  agreed,  that  the  Jor- 
dan Valley  is  a  great  rift,  approximately  parallel 


252  The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

with  the  border  of  the  Mediterranean,  and  forming1 
a  portion  of  the  great  system  of  fractures  in  the 
earth's  crust,  which  separated  Europe  and  Asia 
from  Africa.  That  this  rift  occupied  a  nearly 
straight  line  from  the  end  of  the  Lebanon  group 
of  mountains  to  the  Gulf  of  Akabah,  is  also  un- 
doubted, since  the  structural  evidence  for  it  is  com- 
plete, and  needs  no  repetition  here. 

That  this  rift  valley  contained  a  river,  or  rather 
a  system  of  rivers  which  drained  the  eastern  and 
western  plateaus  bordering  it,  through  the  rift 
as  a  main  artery,  is  not  a  difficult  proposition  to 
accept.  Why  the  open  connection  with  the  sea 
should  have  been  interrupted,  is  a  more  difficult 
thing  to  explain,  because  it  involves  more  than  half 
of  the  whole  length  of  the  rift. 

The  first  physical  feature  of  the  valley  which 
attracted  our  attention  was  the  steady  increase  in 
the  altitudes  along  the  eastern  plateau.  This  has 
already  been  referred  to,  and  is  clearly  seen  in  the 
diagram,  Vol.  I.,  p.  34,  showing  the  variations  of  our 
camps  above  sea-level.  If  we  make  due  allowance 
for  the  horizontal  distances  involved  between  the 
camps,  which  are  necessarily  neglected  in  such  a 
diagram,  the  gradual  character  of  this  rise  in  eleva- 
tion is  at  once  seen.  The  natural  inference  to  be 
drawn  from  such  a  condition  of  things,  where  the 
strata  were  originally  horizontal,  is  that  a  general 
cause  operated  throughout  the  whole  region,  and 
that  the  force  which  produced  the  effect  operated 
with  greatest  intensity  at  the  south. 


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Mount  Hor  255 

The  next  feature  of  importance  noted  was  the 
character  of  the  sedimentary  rocks  in  Petra.  It 
was  evident  that  this  deposit  took  place  in  shallow 
and  brackish  water.  A  study  of  the  peculiar  banded 
lines  in  a  number  of  the  pictures  herewith  pre- 
sented will  be  convincing  evidence  of  this  fact.  If 
we  take  as  examples  the  bands  in  the  lower  part 
of  the  picture  of  Aaron's  tomb,  p.  241,  and  those 
on  the  left-hand  side  of  the  picture  of  the  balus- 
trade, along  the  pathway,  leading  to  the  second 
High  Place,  p.  195,  we  have  illustrations,  drawn 
from  two  points  in  the  series  of  rocks,  differing  in 
position  from  one  another  by  about  thirteen  hun- 
dred feet  vertically.  They  both  display  the  well- 
known  features  of  brackish-water  formations,  and 
when  we  add  that  we  observed  these  characteristics 
throughout  the  whole  of  the  intervening  series  the 
only  explanation  which  can  be  given  is,  that  at 
least  this  series  of  rocks  was  formed  while  the 
whole  mass  was  undergoing  an  exceedingly  slow 
positive  movement,  that  is,  a  movement  toward  the 
centre  of  the  earth,  and  the  water  covering  this  sur- 
face must  have  been  shallow  and  brackish.  The 
problem  immediately  presents  itself  as  to  the  thick- 
ness of  these  deposits  and  their  extent  up  the 
valley,  which  might  be  regarded,  at  the  time  when 
this  was  going  on,  as  an  arm  of  the  sea. 

In  Petra,  the  highest  points  at  which  we  observed 
the  sandstones  varied  in  elevation  from  forty-six 
to  forty-eight  hundred  feet  above  the  sea-level,  and 
they  were  upon  the  borders  of  the  eastern  plateau. 


256         The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

From  the  top  of  Mount  Hor  we  made  out  with  our 
telescopes  and  levels  that  other  points  of  contact 
existed  somewhat  higher  than  these,  but  this  can 
be  taken  as  the  upper  limit  of  these  rocks.  That 
they  were  nonconformable  with  the  limestone  pla- 
teau was  clearly  seen  as  we  passed  down  its  slopes 
to  Elji,  as  the  limestone  strata  maintained  their 
horizontal  position  between  the  masses  of  sand- 
stone, which  looked  at  a  little  distance  as  though 
they  had  been  plastered  against  the  wall  of  the 
plateau.  The  difference  in  elevation  above  sea- 
level  between  the  top  of  the  sandstone  and  the  sur- 
face of  the  plateau  is  between  fifteen  hundred  and 
two  thousand  feet  at  Petra.  Mount  Hor  can  there- 
fore be  considered  as  a  gigantic  remnant  which  has 
resisted  the  elements  better  than  the  rest  of  the 
mass  on  account  of  the  tougher  character  of  most 
of  its  components  or  the  bond  which  united  them. 

The  ragged  contact  line  of  sandstone  and  lime- 
stone is  plainly  seen  in  all  places  where  the  eastern 
plateau  is  included  in  any  photograph,  see  pp.  211 
and  249.  This  is  true  of  those  taken  from  Mount 
Hor,  also  in  the  view  of  the  Petra  valley  proper 
from  the  High  Place,  which  gives  the  relations  of 
the  walls  of  the  valley  and  the  face  of  the  plateau 
very  clearly. 

From  the  top  of  Mount  Hor  another  feature  was 
very  plainly  seen,  which  was  that  the  sandstone  mass 
of  which  the  mountain  is  a  part  was  located  in  a 
bay  or  indentation  of  the  rift.  We  were  able  to 
decide   this    point,    but    could    not    determine    the 


Mount  Hor  259 

dimensions  of  the  bay  for  the  lack  of  the  time 
necessary  to  visit  the  portions  of  the  limestone 
plateau   in   question. 

The  theory  of  the  formation  of  the  valley 
and  the  explanation  of  the  existing  phenomena, 
dependent  upon  it,  which  suggested  itself  was  as 
follows : 

After  the  formation  of  the  rift,  a  period  of  rapid 
sedimentation  set  in,  during  which  time  the  southern 
portion  of  the  region  was  submerged  slowly  until 
the  time  arrived  when  the  sea  had  reached  as  far 
up  the  channel  as  a  point  a  few  miles  south  of  the 
Sea  of  Galilee.  This  point  is  chosen,  not  only  be- 
cause our  measurements  and  the  proportions  de- 
rived from  them  would  fix  it  there,  but  also  because 
the  remnants  of  these  sedimentary  rocks  have  been 
reported  from  that  portion  of  the  valley,  and  are 
to  be  traced  southward  from  it,  but  not  northward. 
This  we  have  not  determined  for  ourselves.  They 
are  certainly,  however,  to  be  found  above  the  north- 
ern end  of  the  Dead  Sea,  on  both  sides  of  the  val- 
ley, where  they  can  be  traced  at  intervals  for  miles 
on  account  of  their  distinctive  colors,  so  strongly  in 
contrast  with  the  limestone. 

After  this  period  the  motion  was  slowly  reversed. 
Not  quickly  enough  to  prevent  surface  erosion  over 
nearly  its  whole  extent,  but  effectually  protecting 
such  bays  in  its  sides  as  the  one  in  which  Petra  is 
located.  In  these  bays  the  whole  process  of  denu- 
dation has  probably  been  accomplished  by  atmos- 
pheric  causes,   including   the   rain.       This   process 


260         The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

continued  until  the  uppermost  strata  had  been  lifted 
at  least  three  thousand  or  thirty-five  hundred  feet  in 
the  region  of  Petra.  Now  a  change  took  place  in 
the  procedure  :  either  the  motion  gained  in  rapidity 
or  the  erosive  power  was  weakened,  and  the  surface 
of  the  rock  rose  above  the  water,  thus  cutting  off  the 
connection  with  the  sea.  The  negative  motion 
away  from  the  centre  of  the  earth,  however,  did  not 
apparently  cease  until  a  further  elevation  of  at  least 
a  thousand  feet  had  taken  place.  By  this  means 
an  extensive  sandstone  plug  was  left  in  the  rift  be- 
tween the  southern  end  of  the  Dead  Sea  and  the 
Gulf  of  Akabah.  Erosion  upon  the  surface  of  this 
mass  has  since  then  progressed  from  both  ends  un- 
til we  have  two  systems  of  streams  in  the  valley  of 
the  Arabah,  one  set  working  their  way  northward 
to  the  Dead  Sea,  and  the  other  set,  the  shorter 
of  the  two,  southward  to  the  Gulf  of  Akabah,  the 
watershed  beincr  about  ei^ht  hundred  feet  above 
sea-level.  This  latter  point  was  visible  from  Mount 
Hor,  as  the  remarkably  clear  day  aided  us  in  the 
use  of  our  telescope  to  good  advantage. 

We  spent  fully  three  hours  on  the  summit,  and 
were  loath  to  leave  the  matchless  spot.  We  collected 
many  bits  of  marble  and  mosaic,  and  cut  a  bunch 
of  canes  as  mementos  of  our  visit.  Our  journey 
to  camp  was  uneventful,  and  we  found  all  well 
amonor  our  caravan. 

Just  before  sunset  we  took  a  farewell  stroll  among 
the  ruins  of  the  city  along  the  brook.  We  reviewed 
the  general  features  of  the  rocky  rampart,  and  we 


Mount  Hor  261 

watched  the  changes  of  color  that  crept  over  the 
valley  under  the  rays  of  the  setting  sun.  As  far  as 
we  knew  we  were  the  sole  occupants  of  all  this 
grandeur  and  desolation.  We  fain  would  have 
prolonged  our  stay  in  the  region,  but  the  return 
journey  was  still  to  be  accomplished,  and  our  friends 
and  duties  were  calling  for  our  return.  We  kept 
watch  with  the  stars  until  long  after  the  camp  was 
silent,  and  then  said  a  last  good-night  to  the  en- 
chanting beauties  of  the  valley. 


CHAPTER  XI 
PETRA  TO  THE  DEAD  SEA 

OUR  journey  back  to  Jerusalem  occupied  nine 
days  travelling,  about  sixty  hours1  in  all  as 
our  caravan  moved  :  three  days  to  Tafileh, 
two  days  clown  to  the  Dead  Sea,  one  day  across 
the  Arabah,  and  three  days  on  to  Jerusalem.  We 
give  some  details  of  the  road  in  the  hope  that  they 
may  prove  of  value  to  others  following  our  route. 

March  6th  dawned  clear  and  cool.  We  broke 
camp  and  were  on  the  march  at  8. 1 5.  Crossing 
the  brook,  Musa  led  us  north  and  then  northeast 
until  we  came  to  the  northeast  corner  of  the  valley. 
The  eastern  wall  and  northern  boundary  closed  in 
until  nothing  was  left  but  the  winding  bed  of  a  nar- 
rowing valley  called  the  Faj.  It  resembled  very 
much  the  opening  toward  the  southwest.  Much  of 
the  roadway  was  the  solid  rock,  but  the  gritty  sand- 
stone never  fails  to  furnish  a  foothold.  At  several 
points  there  were  high  steps  and  ugly  little  fissures, 
but  with  a  little  assistance  all  our  loaded  mules  got 

1  To  Shobek  seven  hours  ;  to  Buseirah  six  ;  to  Tafileh  four  ;  to  el  Abrash 
eight  ;  to  Ghor-Unsur  five  ;  to  Zaweirah  the  Lower  eight  ;  to  Bir  Im 
Hashim  eight ;  to  Hebron  seven  ;  and  to  Jerusalem  seven — making  sixty 
hours. 

262 


Petra  to  the  Dead  Sea  263 

safely  past  them.  After  an  hour  the  Faj  became 
so  rough  and  narrow  that  the  road  led  up  the  rocks 
to  the  right,  crossed  over  a  side  valley  called  Um 
Seihun,  and  after  five  minutes'  progress  in  this 
direction  came  back  into  the  Faj.  By  9.30  we  were 
completely  clear  of  the  Petra  rampart,  and  thus 
proved  the  existence  of  a  third  road  leading  out  of 
the  valley.  It  was  very  evident  also  that  this  road, 
if  not  opened,  had  been  greatly  improved  by  the 
Romans,  and  as  we  found  later  was  the  continuation 
of  the  second  Roman  road  from  Shobek. 

An  hour  and  a  quarter  after  leaving  camp  we 
were  opposite  to  a  mass  of  rocks  on  the  left,  a  hun- 
dred and  fifty  feet  high  which  showed  stairways 
cut  in  the  face  of  the  walls,  and  excavations  at 
several  levels.  A  road  bore  off  to  the  left  leading- 
to  an  Arab  encampment.  We  kept  to  the  right 
for  another  ten  minutes,  until  we  met  a  road  at 
right  angles  to  ours.  Here  we  turned  sharply  to 
the  right,  and  began  to  ascend  the  slope  toward 
the  east,  and  in  forty-five  minutes  reached  a  foun- 
tain called  Ain  Im  Arara.  In  fifteen  minutes  more 
we  were  beside  the  ruins  and  fountain  of  Dibdiba. 
During  the  two  and  a  quarter  hours  we  had  climbed 
from  the  camp  at  three  thousand  feet  to  forty-six 
hundred  and  fifty  feet  at  this  fountain.  Then  we 
pushed  steeply  up  the  mountain  above  the  fountain, 
and  in  fifty  minutes  were  on  the  plateau.  Below 
Dibdiba  we  had  not  followed  the  line  of  the  old 
Roman  road,  but  above  the  ruins  we  traced  it 
plainly  on  the  slope,  and  found  it  also  on  the  ridge 


264         The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

of    the    plateau,    where   the    barometer    registered 
fifty-seven  hundred  and  fifty  feet. 

The  sandstone  ended  at  forty-seven  hundred  feet, 
just  above  the  fountain,  and  the  limestone  cliff 
began.  Almost  at  the  edge  of  the  plateau  we 
struck  into  a  little  valley  leading  after  twenty-five 
minutes'  ride  to  an  Arab  encampment  above  Ain 
el  Arja.  Avoiding  the  fountain  below  us  on  the 
right,  we  again  ascended  along;  the  line  of  the 
Roman  road  to  a  low  ridge  (5720  feet)  and  entered 
the  head  of  Wady  Nijel,  with  its  green  slopes  and 
fine  oak  trees,  which  we  followed  all  the  way  to 
Shobek,  with  one  or  two  deviations  over  shoulders 
which  shortened  our  road.  At  12.30  we  lunched 
under  the  beautiful  oaks,  at  the  point  where  the 
narrow  valley  opens  out  and  the  oak  trees  end. 
The  Roman  road  is  plainly  visible  all  along  this 
path.  About  an  hour  beyond  this  point  we  swung 
away  from  the  lowest  line  of  the  valley's  course, 
and  ascended  the  plateau  to  the  right  where  our 
barometers  registered  fifty-one  hundred  and  fifty 
feet.  Sighting  some  ruins  ahead  of  us,  and  some 
sheepfolds  at  the  base  of  a  hill,  we  made  straight 
for  them,  and  in  forty-five  minutes  were  at  their 
base,  and  in  the  Wady  Nijel  again.  Twenty 
minutes  later,  we  were  at  the  fine  fountain  of  Ain 
Nijel  (4900  feet),  whose  waters  flow  toward  Shobek 
and  turn  the  mills  referred  to  on  our  route  from 
Shobek  to  Petra.  We  reached  our  former  camping- 
place  at  four  p.m.,  without  fatigue,  in  exactly  the 
same  time  that  we  made  going  in  the  other  direc- 


p        *'';j  Y«t'V *'«V-  '/    «0  ■     ■;•;    ■ 


•  «>-.-  v-"'*  ?'• 

,»     '»•  »■  -  *   '•    ■>     *- ■•>.■;  ......  .'  •  ? 

■re.  ■.:■■; -:■;«,-,  '•*!  .< 


*&€$ 


Petra  to  the  Dead  Sea  267 

tion.  We  thus  proved  conclusively  the  existence 
of  three  openings  into  the  Petra  valley,  and  the 
existence  of  two  Roman  roads,  paved  with  basalt, 
between  Petra  and  Shobek. 

Between  Shobek  and  Tafileh,  we  again  broke 
the  ten  hours'  journey  into  two  stages.  In  leaving 
Shobek  we  did  not  descend  into  the  valley  road, 
but  climbed  the  eastern  slope  to  the  plateau,  taking 
the  road  to  the  right  at  the  olive  grove,  and  reach- 
ing the  plateau  in  twenty  minutes  (4600  feet).  We 
made  a  wide  swing  out  eastward,  following  the 
line  of  the  Roman  road,  which  cleared  all  the  heads 
of  the  ravines  leading  down  into  the  deep  valley 
below  Shobek.  One  hour  and  twenty-five  minutes 
after  leaving  camp,  we  met  our  old  friends,  the 
telegraph  poles  and  wires,  coming  from  Maan  and 
Mecca,  and  then  went  on  for  an  hour  to  Khirbet 
Somra.  Twenty-five  minutes  later  we  left  the  plain 
and  entered  a  valley  lined  with  lava  blocks,  sloping 
from  north  to  south.  After  half  an  hour  we  were 
among  ploughed  fields,  and  at  twelve  o'clock,  three 
and  three  quarters  hours  from  camp,  we  stopped  for 
luncheon  at  a  well  called  Bir  Shehathi.  Ascending 
easily  for  half  an  hour  beyond  this  well,  we  reached 
the  highest  shoulder  of  the  range,  and  from  an 
elevation  of  fifty-five  hundred  and  fifty  feet  enjoyed 
another  magnificent  view  of  the  Arabah  and  the 
country  beyond.  Passing  our  old  camping-place 
at  Ain  el  Gelaidat,  we  descended  for  over  an  hour 
to  the  beautiful  stream  of  water  just  above  Buseirah, 
where  we  pitched  for  the  night  (4200  feet). 


268         The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

A  four  hours'  journey  along  the  well-beaten  road 
next  day  brought  us  to  our  former  camping-ground 
at  Tafileh,  and  gave  us  abundant  time  to  make  all 
preparations  for  spending  the  Sabbath. 

When  we  called  upon  the  acting  governor,  in 
order  to  secure  additional  soldiers  as  guards  into 
the  Dead  Sea  region,  we  found  an  inspector  from 
Damascus  present,  a  type  of  man  that  no  one  has 
any  respect  for.  He  attempted  to  answer  for  the 
acting  governor,  and  went  on  to  say  that  our  plan 
to  go  to  Jerusalem  by  the  south  of  the  Dead  Sea 
was  an  impossible  one,  and  that  we  could  not  have 
guards  for  such  a  purpose,  because  all  the  soldiers 
were  away  among  the  Bedawin.  We  reasoned 
with  him  for  a  time,  and  when  his  insolence  in- 
creased, we  told  him  that  guards  or  no  guards  we 
were  going  that  way,  having  made  such  an  agree- 
ment with  Rasheed  Pasha  at  Kerak,  on  the  strength 
of  orders  from  Nazim  Pasha  from  Damascus,  and 
that  when  we  made  our  complaints  to  Damascus, 
he  (the  inspector)  could  make  all  necessary  ex- 
planations for  not  having  sent  soldiers  with  us. 
This  brought  the  man  to  his  senses,  and  we  left 
him  to  do  as  he  chose.  Next  morning  we  heard 
that  he  had  returned  to  Kerak,  and  about  ten 
o'clock  the  acting  governor  and  all  his  officials, 
eight  in  number,  came  to  call  upon  us  in  camp,  and 
were  as  pleasant  as  they  knew  how  to  be.  The 
Zabit  ( head  of  the  soldiers)  assured  us  that  we 
should  have  all  needed  protection,  and  we  assured 
him  that  one  extra  soldier  would  be  enough.     We 


o 

CO 

w 

Si 
H 


Petra  to  the  Dead  Sea  271 

announced  our  intention  of  leaving  at  a  certain 
hour  and  the  soldier  could  start  with  us  then  or 
catch  us  later. 

During  the  day  we  heard  rumors  of  a  party  com- 
ing from  Egypt,  via  the  desert,  and  that  govern- 
ment horsemen  had  gone  down  to  meet  them  and 
to  turn  them  back.  They  were  said  to  have 
seventy  camels  and  eight  tents  in  their  outfit,  but 
their  camels  were  afterward  reduced  to  forty,  and 
we  heard  no  more  of  the  party.  When  it  became 
known  in  Tafileh  that  we  were  going  straight  for 
Jerusalem,  and  were  well  armed,  various  people 
came,  asking  to  be  allowed  to  join  our  caravan,  and 
finding  that  some  of  them  knew  the  route,  and  the 
whereabouts  of  the  very  uncertain  pools  of  rain- 
water, we  were  glad  to  give  them  permission  to 
join  us  and  to  promise  them  protection.  One  of 
the  men  proved  of  great  service  to  us,  for  not  one 
of  our  party  had  ever  been  over  the  roads. 

In  the  afternoon  we  made  our  way  through 
ruined  and  narrow  streets  to  the  tower  seen  in  the 
centre  of  the  picture  (p.  74),  and  returned  the 
call  of  the  commander  of  the  Tafileh  garrison.  He 
treated  us  politely,  and  when  coffee  was  served  we 
noticed  a  silver  filagree  button  in  the  bottom  of  the 
coffee  cup.  Inquiring  its  meaning,  we  were  told 
that  it  contained  a  small  piece  of  amber,  and  that 
the  people  of  this  region,  clinging  to  an  ancient 
custom  and  belief,  thought  that  its  existence  in  the 
cup  and  washed  by  the  coffee  imparted  some  valu- 
able medicinal  influence  upon  the  lungs  and  throat ! 


272         The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

While  we  were  at  breakfast  on  Monday  we  received 
a  telegram  saying  that  all  was  well  at  Beirut,  and  we 
surprised  the  operator  by  posting  a  budget  of 
twenty-two  letters,  more  than  he  had  seen  in  a 
month.  He  was  pleasant  and  obliging,  as  were  all 
the  officials  in  the  town  with  the  exception  of  the 
visiting  inspector,  whose  departure  no  one  mourned. 

At  the  highest  point  on  the  road  from  Petra  to 
Tafileh  our  barometers  registered  fifty-seven  hun- 
dred and  fifty  feet,  which  added  to  twelve  hundred 
and  ninety-two  feet,  the  depression  of  the  Dead 
Sea  below  sea-level,  makes  a  total  descent  of  seven 
thousand  and  forty-two  feet.  The  whole  of  the 
plunge  came  within  the  space  of  twenty  hours' 
muleteer  travel,1  and  sixty-four  hundred  feet  of 
it  in  less  than  twelve  hours.  The  road  is  by  all 
odds  the  most  frightful  for  loaded  animals  that  we 
ever  took  a  caravan  over.  For  miles  it  led  over 
barren  rocks,  where  naught  but  the  foothold  on 
the  gritty  sandstone  saved  our  loads  and  animals 
from  instant  destruction.  There  were  narrow 
ledges  and  narrow  ravines  where  our  bulky  loads 
could  hardly  pass.  There  were  places  where  the 
many  passers  had  worn  a  path  so  deep  and  so  nar- 
row that  as  our  mules  walked  in  it  their  loads 
scraped  the  ground  on  each  side,  and  we  were 
forced  to  spend  time  in  filling  such  places  up  with 
broken  rocks.  There  were  steps  so  high  and  dan- 
gerous that  our  muleteers  despaired  of  ever  getting 

1  Highest    point    to    Tafileh,    five  ;  to  el  Abrash,  eight  ;  Ghor,  five  ;  to 
Dead  Sea,  two. 


Petra  to  the  Dead  Sea  273 

down  them,  and  made  the  mountain-side  ring  with 
their  supplications  and  imprecations.  At  many 
places  the  road  completely  disappeared,  and  each 
mule  picked  his  own  way  down  the  rocky  precipice, 
getting  into  impossible  positions,  and  more  than  one 
of  them  turned  a  complete  somersault  with  our 
loads,  but,  fortunately,  with  no  serious  damage. 
We  know  not  what  other  roads  may  be  leading 
from  Edom  down  into  the  Arabah,  but  we  are  sure 
that  they  could  not  be  anything  worse  than  this 
road  down  from  Tafileh. 

We  were  away  from  camp  at  eight  a.  m.  and  for 
four  hours  the  general  direction  was  northwest. 
The  road  is  known  as  the  route  by  el  Abrash.1 
From  our  camp  in  Tafileh  it  looked  as  though  we 
could  drop  a  rifle-ball  into  the  waters  of  the  Dead 
Sea,  but  it  took  us  more  than  thirteen  hours'  hard 
journeying  to  reach  it.  The  telegraph  office  in 
Tafileh  is  thirty-six  hundred  and  fifty  feet  above 
the  sea-level.  The  road  dips  down  and  swings 
round  the  northern  side  of  the  amphitheatre  of 
mountains,  and  after  fifty  minutes  rises  again  to 
over  four  thousand  feet,  above  a  village  called 
Aineh.  Then  in  thirty-five  minutes  it  drops  over 
five  hundred  feet  to  the  village  itself.  Forty-five 
minutes  beyond  Aineh  the  road  forks  ;  its  upper 
branch  is  a  second  road  to  Kerak  ;  we  took  the 
lower  branch,  leaving  several  small  fountains  of 
water  above  us  on  the  riorht.  The  Roman  road  to 
Kerak  evidently  followed  the  upper  branch.      Our 

1  Points  to  be  inquired  for,  Aineh,  Bir  Mlih,   el  Abrash. 
vol.  11. — 18. 


274         The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

road  dipped  down  to  about  thirty-three  hundred 
feet,  and  after  an  hour  and  a  half  of  slight  ascents 
and  descents  we  rose  to  a  shoulder  of  the  mountain 
(3840  feet)  from  which  we  took  our  last  view  of 
Tafileh,  nearly  four  hours  behind  us,  and  also  looked 
down  into  the  valley  of  the  Ahsa  and  the  Dead  Sea. 
It  was  an  awe-inspiring  view. 

The  road  now  swung  westward,  and  from  this 
point  plunged  downward.  In  twenty  minutes  we  had 
dropped  to  thirty-two  hundred  feet,  and  halted  for 
luncheon  at  a  well  called  Bir  Mlih  (see  photograph), 
one  of  the  last  drinking-places  on  this  frightful 
road.  While  we  rested  here,  Milhem  followed  a 
large  flock  of  wild  pigeons  and  brought  down  three 
at  one  shot.  From  this  unclean  well  the  road 
swings  round  to  the  southwest,  and  is  easily  fol- 
lowed for  an  hour  or  more.  It  goes  round  many 
small  valleys,  but  not  into  them,  and  presents  a 
series  of  superb  views  of  the  Ahsa  valley  and  Dead 
Sea.  Two  hours  from  the  well  we  had  dropped  to 
nineteen  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  and  at  this  point 
the  limestone  formation  ended,  and  we  entered  the 
sandstone  again.  The  remaining  three  thousand 
feet  of  the  descent  the  road  is  simply  frightful. 

During  the  next  hour  we  dropped  from  nineteen 
hundred  and  fifty  feet  to  eleven  hundred  and  fifty 
feet,  and  reached  the  nook  in  the  ravine  called  el 
Abrash.  Here  we  decided  to  pitch  for  the  night,  it 
being  now  four  p.m.  Palm  trees  once  grew  in  this 
region,  and  gave  it  the  name  of  en-Nakhaly,  but 
nearly  all  of  them  have  now  died  out.     We  noticed 


27.s       RiR  Mlih,  on  the  Road  from  Tafileh  to  the  Ghor 


Petra  to  the  Dead  Sea  277 

a  few  stunted  ones  among  the  high  rocks  about 
us. 

Our  first  effort  was  to  find  water,  and  in  this 
search  the  people  who  joined  our  caravan  served  us 
well.  Relieving  the  animals  of  their  loads,  they 
roamed  among  the  rocky  ravines,  and  after  a  quar- 
ter of  an  hour  they  called  out :  "  We  have  found 
water  !  We  have  found  water  !  "  We  visited  the 
spot  and  saw  a  dirty,  foul-looking  pool  of  rain-water, 
from  which  foxes,  birds,  and  perhaps  other  wild  ani- 
mals had  drank,  and  where  they  had  bathed.  In 
color  it  resembled  dirty  vinegar,  and  contained  all 
manner  of  living  creatures,  visible  and  no  doubt 
invisible.  But  there  was  nothing  else  within  many 
miles,  and  we  proceeded  to  make  use  of  it  for  all 
camp  purposes.  After  the  first  boiling  it  looked 
like  milk  and  had  a  very  decided  smell.  We  boiled 
it  aeain,  and  while  it  was  a  little  clearer  it  was  not 
any  more  palatable.  This  camp  marked  the  be- 
ginning of  our  pangs  of  thirst,  which  distressed  us 
all  the  way  to  Hebron,  four  days  beyond.  While 
pitching  our  tents,  we  discovered  that  the  region 
was  infested  with  scorpions.  Every  stone,  small 
and  large,  seemed  to  have  a  nest  of  them  beneath 
it.  We  warned  the  men,  and  cleared  the  space  be- 
neath our  tents  as  well  as  we  could,  filling  a  bottle 
with  fine  specimens,  and  even  though  many  miles 
away  from  any  human  habitation,  we  did  not  relax 
our  guard  over  the  tents  and  animals  during  the 
night. 

We  got  away  early  the  next  morning,  and  for 


278         The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

three  hours  the  strain  on  mules  and  men  was 
almost  unbearable.  We  thought  the  road  of  the 
previous  day  bad  enough,  but  this  last  descent  ex- 
ceeded all  in  danger.  The  road  from  our  camping- 
place  climbed  a  steep  mountain  face  for  several 
hundred  feet,  and  wound  in  and  out  among  the 
rocks  and  ravines  in  a  manner  that  defies  all  de- 
scription. No  one  should  attempt  to  find  it  with- 
out a  good  guide.  At  the  end  of  the  first  hour, 
we  had  dropped  about  two  hundred  feet  below  the 
level  of  our  camp.  In  the  next  hour  we  dropped 
over  seven  hundred  and  fifty,  and  our  barometers 
had  reached  the  sea-level.  In  another  hour — three 
hours  from  camp — we  reached  the  waters  of  the 
Ahsa,  issuing  from  their  deep  valley,  six  hundred 
feet  below  the  level  of  the  Mediterranean.  Our 
caravan  was  nearly  two  hours  behind  us. 

At  one  point  in  our  descent  we  bagged  some 
partridges,  and  at  another  we  amused  ourselves, 
while  waiting  for  the  caravan,  by  rolling  huge  rocks 
down  a  thousand-foot  slope  into  a  gorge  below, 
waking  earthquake  echoes  and  startling  all  the 
animal  life,  large  and  small. 

The  views  of  the  Dead  Sea  region  contracted  as 
we  descended,  until  by  the  waters  of  the  Ahsa  we 
seemed  to  be  in  a  meadow-like  plain  which  was 
dotted  with  patches  of  dense,  thorny  bushes,  among 
which  grew  the  apples  of  Sodom.  This  wide  stretch 
of  arable  land,  formed  and  watered  by  the  stream 
of  the  Ahsa,  is  the  possession  and  home  of  the 
tribes  of  Kaabineh   Arabs,   about  as  poor  and  as 


Petra  to  the  Dead  Sea  279 

miserable-looking  mortals  as  can  be  found  in  all 
Syria.  Hashim,  our  soldier,  rode  to  their  tents, 
three  miles  away,  in  order  to  secure  a  couple  of 
guides  who  could  lead  us  safely  around  the  treacher- 
ous waters  of  the  Dead  Sea.  Before  he  returned 
our  caravan  had  arrived.  The  loads  were  thrown 
down  and  the  men  and  beasts  washed  themselves 
in  the  stream  and  thoroughly  quenched  their  almost 
unbearable  thirst. 

At  the  entrance  to  the  canyon  of  the  Ahsa, 
where  the  river  comes  out  into  the  Ghor,  an  inter- 
esting delta  is  found.  To  all  appearances  it  was 
formed  under  water,  and  then  elevated  above  the 
water  level.  The  stream  flowed  out  over  a  flat- 
tened, dome-shaped  mass  of  considerable  area. 


CHAPTER   XII 

THE  DEAD  SEA 

THE  names  of  the  region  about  the  Dead  Sea 
are  a  puzzle  to  many  who  have  not  studied 
the  details  of  its  geography.  The  cleft  or 
vale  between  the  Dead  Sea  and  the  Gulf  of  Akabah 
is  known  as  the  Arabah.  The  Jordan  Valley  be- 
tween the  Sea  of  Galilee  and  the  Dead  Sea  is  called 
the  Ghor.  But  these  two  divisions  overlap,  and 
sometimes  the  Dead  Sea  is  said  to  be  in  the  Arabah, 
which  in  Hebrew  usage  included  the  lower  Jordan 
Valley;  while  at  other  times  the  sea  is  said  to  occupy 
the  lower  end  of  the  Ghor.  The  word  Ghor  means 
the  depression  or  hollow,  and  hence  we  have  the 
word  applied  to  parts  of  the  cleft,  as  Ghor  Beisan, 
Ghor  Nablous,  and  at  the  southern  end  of  the 
Dead  Sea  the  Ghor  es  Safiyeh.  The  people  who 
live  in  the  Ghor  are  called  Gha-war-neh  =  Ghorites; 
but  many  of  the  Ghawarneh  winter  in  the  Jordan 
Valley  and  summer  in  the  highlands,  as  do  those 
who  claim  land  about  Banias  ;  while  others  are  too 
poor  to  own  a  second  camping-ground,  and  dwell 
forever  in  the  hot  valley. 

As  we  had  decided  to  push  on  into  the  Arabah 

280 


;™« wgrm 


The  Dead  Sea  285 

so  as  to  shorten  the  journey  next  day,  the  men 
replaced  the  loads  and,  guided  by  the  two  Arabs, 
we  left  the  park-like  region  of  the  stream  and 
turned  due  south,  along  the  edge  of  the  barren 
slopes.  We  noticed  that  the  great  irrigated  patch 
of  arable  land  at  the  mouth  of  the  Ahsa  was  prac- 
tically surrounded  and  isolated  from  the  barren 
hills  and  the  wastes  of  sand  and  mud  by  a  jungle 
of  zizyphus  and  thorny  bushes  that  presented  an 
almost  impassable  barrier.  Where  the  natural 
growth  was  thin  or  disappeared,  we  saw  miles  of 
rude  hedges  made  from  the  thorny  branches  cut 
from  the  trees  and  rolled  into  a  compact  barrier. 
There  must  be  fifteen  or  twenty  square  miles  of 
this  watered  arable  land,  and  between  the  natural 
hedges,  the  artificial  ones,  the  watercourses,  and 
the  unspeakable  mud-holes,  the  region  is  almost 
impassable  to  any  one  except  a  dweller  in  it,  who 
can  find  his  way  by  the  paths  known  only  to  these 
people. 

After  passing  many  ruins,  built  mainly  from  the 
sun-dried  brick,  we  followed  our  guides  through  a 
break  in  the  jungle  and  over  fields  of  wheat,  over 
watercourses,  through  mud  and  briers,  until  we 
came  to  a  still  denser  growth  of  larger  trees  and 
bushes.  Here  we  were  forced  to  proceed  in  single 
file,  and  after  a  little  time  found  ourselves  among 
the  tents  of  the  Ghawarneh,  set  here  and  there 
among  the  dense  bushes  in  little  circles  or  squares 
of  four  or  five  tents  each,  and  each  circle  the  home 
of  a  howling  mass  of  men,  women,  children,  sheep, 


286         The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

dogs,  goats,  and  poultry.  One  narrow  path  led 
into  the  circle,  and  another  narrow  path  led  out  of 
it,  hence  the  passage  of  our  caravan  caused  a 
frightful  commotion  for  miles.  We  had  to  keep 
a  sharp  watch  on  the  laden  animals.  If  they  had 
disappeared  suddenly,  perhaps  they  might  have 
been  recovered  half  an  hour  later,  stripped  of 
everything  but  their  hides.  Having  threaded  this 
labyrinth,  we  emerged  into  the  clearer  country  be- 
yond, and  there  pitched  our  tents  among  the  trees 
and  bushes,  at  a  place  called  Unsur.  Our  first 
care  was  to  see  all  our  belongings  safely  stowed 
in  the  tents,  then  we  looked  after  the  provision 
of  milk  and  water.  The  stream,  where  it  issued 
from  the  valley  of  the  Ahsa,  was  clear  and  drink- 
able, but  after  traversing  the  plain  in  a  ditch 
and  supplying  the  "circles"  of  tents  and  their 
motley  collections  of  animal  life,  it  was  almost  as 
foul  as  the  water  of  the  pools  at  the  el  Abrash 
•camp.  Again  we  boiled  it,  and  again  we  felt  the 
pangs  of  thirst  which  we  had  no  means  of  assuag- 
ing. Coffee  and  tea  do  lubricate  and  sustain  the 
system,  but  nothing  quenches  thirst  as  surely  and 
as  completely  as  clear,  pure  water.  The  fact  that 
we  could  not  obtain  any  at  any  price,  and  that  we 
had  two  dry  days  ahead  of  us,  did  not  diminish  the 
desire  for  it. 

We  visited  the  wretched  tents  of  these  Kaabineh 
Arabs.  They  are  formed  of  dark  cloth  of  camel's 
hair,  resting  on  low  poles  and  rafters,  and  the  lack  of 
ropes  and  other  accessories  make  them  the  meanest 


The  Dead  Sea  291 

and  poorest  habitations  we  have  seen.  The  one  pic- 
tured on  p.  287  (Native  tent),  with  our  soldier 
Hashim  and  two  of  the  women  in  front,  is  the 
best  one  we  could  find.  The  photograph  marked 
"  Native  family"  gives  a  better  idea  of  the  way  in 
which  the  inhabitants  and  animals  are  crowded  into 
the  "  circles."  This  row  of  Arabs  gives  some  idea 
of  the  people.  Next  to  the  American  on  the  left 
is  one  of  our  travelling  company  from  Maan,  but 
the  remainder  are  all  Ghawarneh.  These  people 
irrigate  wide  fields,  plant  wheat  and  maize,  grow 
some  cotton  and  indigo,  and  own  two  or  three 
hundred  camels,  which  graze  in  herds  about  the 
region.  They  have  been  much  oppressed  by  the 
dwellers  in  Kerak  and  about  Petra,  and  lead  a 
most  miserable  existence.  The  pains  they  take  to 
hide  their  dwelling-places  among  the  thorns,  the 
dense  hedges  about  the  fields,  the  absolute  lack  of 
fixed  roads,  the  hidden  paths  in  the  jungle,  all  tes- 
tify to  the  relations  they  sustain  toward  each  other 
and  toward  the  wild  men  and  animals  of  the  sur- 
rounding regions.  For  a  century  they  have  robbed 
and  maltreated  nearly  all  the  travellers  who  have 
ventured  among  them,  but  the  strong  arms  and 
cruel  hands  of  the  Turks  have  beaten  them  into 
semi-submission  and  fear.  Hashim  and  Hsein, 
our  soldiers,  spent  two  hours  in  bullying  them  into 
supplying  guards  for  our  camp,  and  in  arranging 
the  details  for  the  niorht.  Our  muleteers  formed 
the  inner  circle,  Hashim  and  Hsein  were  a  patrol, 
and    the    Kaabinehs    were    compelled    to    make  a 


292         The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

larger  circle,  and  keep  huge  bonfires  going  all 
night.  By  such  precautions  we  defended  ourselves 
successfully. 

The  nio-ht  was  warm  and  still.  The  region  is  a 
paradise  for  dogs  and  jackals,  whose  voices  and 
bodies  it  is  hard  to  distinguish.  It  would  be  im- 
possible to  say  about  any  of  the  camps,  just  where 
the  species  jackal  ended  and  the  species  dog  be- 
gan. They  are  almost  one  family.  The  mosqui- 
toes came  in  swarms  about  our  tents,  and  had  we 
remained  a  second  night  these  pests  would  no 
doubt  have  made  themselves  at  home  with  us.  In 
extended  conversation  with  the  people,  they  as- 
sured us  that  every  living  being  in  their  camps 
suffered  from  fever  and  ague  every  year  of  his 
life,  and  that  the  attack  lasted  from  one  to  two 
months.  The  very  dogs  lost  their  hair,  and  the 
poultry  their  feathers,  and  by  November  of  each 
year,  the  camps  were  charnel-houses.  When  we 
looked  at  the  fever-shaken,  furrowed  countenances 
of  the  straggly-haired  specimens  of  the  human 
frame  in  the  men  who  spoke  to  us,  we  were  con- 
strained to  believe  their  accounts.  When  the  sick 
and  the  blind  began  to  crowd  around  us  asking 
for  aid,  we  wished  that  our  good  friend  Doctor 
Post  had  been  able  to  carry  out  his  cherished 
desire  of  accompanying  us.  We  gave  from  our 
stores  of  medicine,  and  only  wished  we  could  have 
done  a  hundredfold  more  for  these  burdened 
people. 

Lord   Kitchener  and   a  party   were   camping  in 


3H£feH 


The  Dead  Sea  297 

this  region  in  1883,  the  day  before  Christmas,  when 
a  sheikh  with  four  Arabs  came  in,  twenty  days 
from  Cairo,  bearing  a  letter  from  Sir  Evelyn  Bar- 
ino-  telling-  of  the  terrible  defeat  of  Hicks  Pasha's 
army  in  the  Soudan.  One  cannot  but  wonder  if 
Lord  Kitchener,  even  for  a  moment,  dreamed  that 
he  was  to  be  the  instrument  in  God's  hands  to 
avenge  that  catastrophe,  some  few  years  later  at 
Omdurman. 

We  broke  camp  next  day  at  seven  a.m.,  and  started 
on  one  of  the  most  trying  stages  of  our  whole  jour- 
ney.     In  half  an  hour,  led  by  our  guides  from  the 
Kaabineh,  we  were  clear  of  the  trees  and  brush  and 
out  in  the  Sebka  (Psalm  cvii.,  34),  a  region  of  slimy 
sand  flats,   with  coatings  of    salt  and  treacherous- 
looking  depressions  where  the  watercourses  run  in 
the  winter  season.      For  two  hours  we  wound  along 
over  this  morass  (see  Dead  Sea  salt  morass,  p.  295) 
by  the  slippery  path  that  here  and   there  threat- 
ened to  drop  us  into  the  quicksands  below.      Our 
guides  led  us  along  a  trail  consisting  of  footprints 
of   animals  going    and    coming,   until   we    seemed 
half-way  across,  when  to  our  disgust  the  footprints 
proved  to  be  those  of  a  lot  of  salt  gatherers  from 
Kerak,  who  went  to  a  running  stream,  loaded  their 
animals,  and  returned.      It  was  absolutely  impossi- 
ble to  go  any   farther,   and  we  retraced  our  trail 
for  several  miles,  just  in  time  to  keep  our  caravan 
from   following  us.      The   guides   kept   fifty  yards 
in  advance,  testing  the  treacherous-looking  places 
with   their  feet  and   long   sticks  ;    but    more    than 


298  The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

once  one  of  our  leading  horses  sank  through  the 
clay,  and  floundered  badly  before  we  could  ex- 
tricate him.  Each  such  soft  place  involved  a  long 
detour  to  the  south,  until  we  had  crossed  all  the 
brooks  running  down  from  the  mountains  of 
Edom. 

Towards  the  south,  at  a  distance  of  about  five 
miles,  we  saw  a  clearly  defined  band  of  light-colored 
rock  (see  picture,  p.  295,  Road  across  Salt  Morass) 
of  a  height  of  from  one  hundred  to  two  hundred 
feet,  which  completely  crossed  the  whole  valley. 

This  wall  presented  what  appeared  to  be  an  un- 
broken face,  but  which  must  have  been  cut  down  to 
the  level  of  the  morass  at  the  points  where  the 
stream  flowing  northward  along  the  Arabah  have 
their  channels. 

In  this  cliff  we  have  the  northern  boundary  of  the 
sandstone  plug  in  the  lower  portion  of  the  main 
valley. 

In  the  picture,  p.  299  (Western  side  of  Salt  Mo- 
rass), we  can  see  the  continuation  of  this  wall  up 
the  western  side  of  the  valley  towards  the  southern 
end  of  Jebel  Usdum.  At  this  point  it  is  much 
broken  down  by  the  streams  which  come  in  from 
the  western  mountains,  but  as  a  structural  line  it  is 
continuous  throughout  the  whole  extent  of  this 
great  area. 

It  maybe  that  this  whole  surface  was  once  below 
the  surface  of  the  Dead  Sea,  for  it  is  composed  of 
silt,  which  might  have  been  brought  to  it  by  the 
tremendous   activity  of    the    many   streams   which 


- '. 


p 


The  Dead  Sea  303 

lead  to  it  from  all  sides.  A  slight  change  in  eleva- 
tion would  account  for  all  its  peculiar  features,  and 
also  explain  the  position  of  the  delta  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Ahsa. 

Even  though  we  had  made  an  early  start,  the  heat 
became  intense  and  our  thirst  excruciating.  It  was 
a  strange  experience,  after  the  foul  waters  of  the 
Bir  Mlih,  those  of  Alebrash  camp,  and  those  of  the 
Ghor  es  Safiyeh,  to  reach  a  point  where  the  horses 
walked  in  crystal  brooks  for  half  an  hour,  the 
heavens  like  brass  above,  the  heat  increasing,  and 
not  a  drop  of  water  to  drink  !  For  these  limpid 
streams  beneath  our  feet  were  all  so  bitterly  salty 
or  sulphurous  that  neither  man  nor  beast  could 
touch  a  drop  of  them.  An  hour  of  this  in  that  salt 
desert  was  an  experience  we  can  never  forget. 

When  once  clear  of  this  salt  morass,  our  Ka- 
abineh  guides  begged  to  be  allowed  to  return,  and 
after  getting  our  bearings  well  we  paid  them  and 
let  them  go.  Sending  our  caravan  on  ahead  we 
then  took  one  soldier  and  made  the  attempt  to  pass 
along  the  shore  of  the  Dead  Sea  to  the  east  of 
Jebel  Usdum,  which  now  loomed  up  in  front  of  us. 
We  rode  until  the  horses  were  trembling  at  the 
slimy,  sinking  crust  beneath  them.  Then  we  left 
them  and  proceeded  on  foot  for  a  few  hundred 
yards,  and  assured  ourselves  that  no  road  now  ex- 
ists along  that  quicksandy  shore,  and  that  it  would 
be  suicidal  to  attempt  to  cross  these  foamy  crusts 
of  salty  sand,  beneath  which  lay  depths  of  soapy 
mire   into   which    a    horse   and   rider   could   easily 


304         The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

disappear  forever.  One  of  our  horsemen  had  ex- 
perienced such  an  accident  a  few  years  before  and 
came  near  being-  lost. 

We  saw  two  gazelles  galloping  along  the  shore 
northward,  and  we  shot  one  partridge  near  the 
southern  end  of  the  mountain. 

Following  our  caravan  for  an  hour,  and  climbing 
into  Wady  el  Emaz,  we  were  soon  seven  hundred 
feet  above  the  Dead  Sea,  and  moving  along  on  a 
chalky  plateau  to  the  west  of  Jebel  Usdum.  The 
mountain  is  about  four  miles  long  and  at  places 
seven  or  eight  hundred  feet  high.  The  lower  two 
or  three  hundred  feet  of  this  height  is  a  mass  of 
solid  rock  salt,  whose  upper  level  is  easily  traced  by 
the  wet  line  caused  by  the  constant  collection  of 
moisture  by  the  salt. 

Suddenly  the  road  left  the  plateau  and  dropped 
into  a  long,  narrow  valley,  called  Wady  Mikhbar, 
at  first  some  ten  feet  deep  and  five  feet  wide,  but 
cutting  deeper  and  deeper  into  the  soft  strata  until 
it  was  a  hundred  feet  deep  and  ten  or  twelve  feet 
wide,  winding  in  the  most  curious  way  imaginable, 
and  revealing  beautiful  examples  of  erosion  at  a 
thousand  places.  It  is  an  ideal  lurking-place  for 
highwaymen,  and  in  the  heat  and  drought  of  noon- 
day it  is  an  oven.  Travellers  who  can  so  arrange 
it  will  do  well  to  make  this  passage  in  the  early 
morning  or  by  night.  It  emerges  in  a  wide  torrent- 
bed  at  the  northern  end  of  Jebel  Usdum,  and  just 
here  is  obtained  the  best  view  of  the  great  masses 
of  rock  salt,  and  the  quarry  from  which  the  Hebron 


o 


The  Dead  Sea  309 

merchants  cut  the  blocks  which  they  carry  to  Je- 
rusalem. We  detached  large  specimens  with  diffi- 
culty, having  no  tools. 

This  plateau  west  of  Jebel  Usdum  is  a  remnant 
of  the  sandstone  deposit  in  the  main  valley,  in  this 
case  of  a  peculiar  calcareous  character.  Some  of 
its  upper  portion  has  been  removed  by  erosion,  as 
is  seen  by  a  glance  at  the  picture,  p.  311  (Moun- 
tains to  the  west  of  the  northern  end  of  Jebel 
Usdum).  The  limestone  mountains  are  seen  in 
the  background  of  the  picture,  but  the  horizontal 
belt  of  a  lighter  color  extending  through  the  whole 
width  of  the  picture  is  the  lighter-colored  sand- 
stone. It  is  much  eroded  at  this  point  by  streams 
coming  from  the  westward,  but  is  practically  con- 
tinuous along  the  face  of  the  mountains  on  the 
western  border  of  the  plateau  back  of  Jebel  Us- 
dum, and  as  far  south  as  our  glasses  enabled  us 
to  see  beyond  its  southern  end,  along  the  western 
side  of  the  main  valley.  The  plateau  itself  is  un- 
dergoing- erosion  both  to  the  north  and  south, 
through  the  agency  of  the  waters  collecting  upon 
its  surface.  The  gullies  thus  cut  out  were  the 
pathways  we  took  to  reach  it,  and  descend  from 
it. 

We  next  rode  northward  and  down  to  the  shore 
of  the  Dead  Sea,  where  we  took  a  swim  in  its 
thick,  oily  waters.  Contrary  to  our  expectations 
we  did  not  find  the  bottom  slimy,  but  clean  and 
clear,  and  with  splendid  banks  of  clean  pebbles 
for   miles.      Nor  did    we    suffer  any    of  the  incon- 


3  to         The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

veniences  or  smartings  of  the  skin  which  some 
travellers  have  complained   of,  while  in  the  water. 

The  taste  of  the  water  was  something  which 
caused  its  immediate  expulsion  from  the  mouth  ; 
and  when  it  touched  the  eyelids  they  burned  under 
its  acrid  stimulus. 

A  gathering  storm  compelled  us  to  cut  short  the 
delightful  bath  we  were  experiencing.  When  we 
went  into  the  water  the  temperature  of  the  air  was 
8 2°  F.  and  that  of  the  water  72 °  F.,  but  when  we 
reached  the  shore  there  had  been  a  drop  of  200  in 
the  temperature  of  the  air,  a  change  which  made 
our  teeth  chatter  with  the  cold.  A  strong  wind 
was  blowing,  and  this  dried  our  bodies  and  left 
them  coated  with  salt  before  we  could  rub  ourselves 
down.  The  salt  filled  our  hair,  and  was  as  gener- 
ally disagreeable  as  possible.  The  irritation  thus 
produced  lasted  for  many  hours,  and  made  our 
flesh  tingle. 

While  we  were  bathing  our  caravan  had  turned 
up  a  narrow  gorge  in  the  desolate  slope,  and  when 
we  overtook  it  an  hour  later  they  were  preparing  to 
camp  at  a  place  called  Zaweirah  the  Lower.  Its 
only  claim  to  being  made  a  resting-place  is  the  ex- 
istence of  some  pools  of  filthy  water,  defiled  and 
fouled  by  passing  man  and  beast.  It  is  a  wild  spot 
among  the  towering  rocks,  once  defended  by  a 
picturesque  castle  and  some  other  buildings,  but 
the  most  desolate  and  uncomfortable  place  that 
we  ever  pitched  our  tents  in.  After  the  plunge 
down  the  Edom  slope,  the  lack  of  water  in  the  two 


The  Dead  Sea  3l5 

camps,  the  distressing,  tantalizing  effect  of  the  un- 
drinkable  brooks  in  the  salt  morass,  the  oven-like 
heat  of  the  winding,  chalky  valley,  and  the  fatigue 
of  an  eight-hours  journey,  we  found  in  Zaweirah 
the  most  trying  night  of  our  trip.  Almost  before 
the  cook  had  secured  enough  of  the  foul  water  to 
cook  our  supper  with  the  tired  muleteers  had 
coaxed  their  weary  animals  across  the  rocks  to  the 
pools,  and  using  one  of  our  cooking  vessels  as  a 
bucket,  were  washing  both  mules  and  donkeys  in 
the  water  which  we  were  expected  to  drink !  For 
the  water  poured  over  their  sweaty  bodies  found  its 
way  over  the  smooth  rocks  into  the  pool  again. 
Such  utter  stupidity  and  crass  disregard  of  the  des- 
perate needs  of  any  travellers  who  might  be  follow- 
ing us  almost  upset  our  patience,  and  we  made  those 
rocky  valleys  ring  with  our  condemnations  of  their 
conduct,  where  the  stake  was  one  of  life  and  death. 
Foul  as  the  water  was  when  we  arrived,  we  were 
devoutly  thankful  to  find  any  at  all  in  the  pools. 
Green,  and  rilled  with  creeping  things,  it  was  able 
to  sustain  life,  and  the  spectacle  of  those  muleteers 
adding  to  its  impurities  by  washing  their  sore- 
backed  animals  in  it  was  a  specimen  of  man's  in- 
humanity to  man,  that  might  well  make  angels 
mourn.  During  the  night  the  winds  swirled  up 
that  narrow  gorge,  flapping  and  twisting  our  tents, 
blowing  the  dust  and  pebbles  into  our  beds,  which 
sloped  at  unsleepable  angles,  and  kept  the  whole 
camp  awake,  when  every  man  and  animal  was 
almost    dead    with    exhaustion.       But    after    their 


316         The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

scolding  over  the  matter  of  the  water,  the  men 
seemed  penitent,  and  out  of  compassion  we  shared 
almost  everything  we  had  in  the  shape  of  food  and 
drink,  and  gave  them  all  the  tobacco  they  could  use. 
In  truth,  the  whole  camp  supply  of  food  was  get- 
ting low  after  our  stav  in  Petra,  and  the  region 
between  Tafileh  and  Hebron  was  a  howling  wilder- 
ness. Our  guns  gave  us  game,  but  there  was 
neither  milk  nor  eggs  nor  vegetables  among  the 
rocks  and  ravines  of  the  Dead  Sea  region. 

Our  barometers  registered  at  Zaweirah  about 
four  hundred  feet  above  the  Dead  Sea  and  eight 
hundred  and  ninety-two  feet  below  the  Mediterra- 
nean, but  in  fifty  minutes  after  leaving  camp  we 
had  climbed  over  thirteen  hundred  feet,  and  were 
moving  along  on  a  well-beaten  road  through  a 
flinty  desert,  gradually  ascending  until  we  came 
into  the  region  of  Bedawin  camps,  and  at  length 
of  ploughed  fields.  We  saw  few  human  beings  of 
whom  we  could  inquire  the  road,  but  we  knew  the 
general  direction,  and  never  missed  our  way. 

About  four  in  the  afternoon  we  camped  in  a  nar- 
row valley,  by  a  well  called  Bir  Im  Hashim,  with 
plenty  of  clear  water  in  it,  and  which  we  took  care 
to  guard  against  any  such  defilement  as  that  which 
took  place  at  Zaweirah. 

The  night  was  cool  and  refreshing,  and  our  ani- 
mals  greatly  enjoyed  the  green  grass  after  the 
rocks  of  Petra  and  the  desolation  of  the  shores  of 
the  Dead  Sea.  The  next  day  turned  out  showery, 
so  that  we  packed  up  our  shotguns — and  bewailed 


E*r 


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The  Dead  Sea  3!9 

our  mistake  almost  immediately,  as  we  saw  perhaps 
thousands  of  blue  rock  pigeons  during  the  day. 
Not  fearing  highwaymen  in  this  vicinity,  we  pushed 
on  ahead  of  our  caravan,  and  entered  Hebron 
about  noon.  We  sent  the  third  message  over  the 
new  telegraph  wire,  and  announced  our  safe  arrival 
to  friends  in  Jerusalem  and  Beirut.  Some  of  the 
Celtics  passengers  were  down  from  Jerusalem 
for  the  day,  and  among  them  we  discovered 
acquaintances. 

We  pitched  our  last  camp  on  the  green  threshing 
floors  before  the  town.  We  received  callers  and 
made  calls.  Then  Milhem  the  dragoman,  Butrus 
the  cook,  Kasim  the  table  boy,  and  all  the  mule- 
teers did  their  best  to  make  our  last  night  in  the 
tents  as  bright  and  as  pleasant  as  food  and  good 
nature  could  render  it.  Everybody  was  grateful  and 
happy  at  the  safe  ending  of  our  splendid  journey. 

The  next  day  dawned  showery,  and  soon  after 
the  caravan  was  in  motion  the  rain  came  down  in 
torrents.  The  storms  we  did  not  have  in  February 
and  the  first  half  of  March  seemed  to  have  re- 
pented of  having  given  us  so  much  good  weather, 
and  were  eager  to  soak  us  well  at  the  last  opportu- 
nity. We  packed  all  our  guns,  we  donned  our 
rubber  clothing,  and  we  faced  the  storm  the  live- 
long day.  But  it  could  not  dampen  our  spirits. 
The  plains  of  Moab,  the  mountains  of  Edom,  the 
frightful  descent  down  almost  impassable  ravines, 
the  treacherous  morasses  around  the  sea  of  death, 
the    trying   ascent   among    the    scorching    chalky 


320         The  Jordan  Valley  and  Petra 

valleys,  the  dearth  of  water,  the  parching  thirst, 
the  fatigue,  the  dangers, — were  all  behind  us,  and 
in  front  the  welcome  and  tidings  from  friends  and 
loved  ones  waiting  and  watching  for  us  in  Jerusalem 
— a  beautiful  ending  to  a  wonderful  journey.  It 
will  stand  ineffaceably  in  our  memories  as  a  picture 
of  human  life. 

We  close  this  narrative  with  an  ascription  of 
praise  and  thanksgiving  to  the  kind  Father  that 
fulfilled  the  dream  of  many  years,  and  guided  us  in 
safety  from  the  beginning  to  the  end.  We  wish 
for  each  reader,  after  the  pleasures  and  service  of 
life  begin  to  wane,  and  the  pathway  plunges  down- 
ward into  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death,  that 
he  or  she  may  be  guided  in  safety  over  the  flood, 
and,  climbing  the  slopes  beyond,  find  a  glad  wel- 
come in  the  heavenly  Jerusalem — the  goal  of  every 
child  of  God. 


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Sidon 

to  Jezzin    .     .     . 

7 

Jedeideh    .     . 

7 

Banias  .     .     . 

5 

Ulleka  .     .     . 

7 

Tabigha     .     . 

8 

Tiberias 

Gadara       .     . 

61 

el  Husn      .     . 

7l 

Jerash    . 

6 

Remamin   .     . 

6i 

Naur  via  Salt  . 

9* 

Madeba      .     . 

4 

Diban    .     .     . 

6 

Arnon,  Guard- 

house 

6 

Kerak    .     .     • 

7 

el  Ahsa      .     . 

5i 

Tafileh        .     . 

4* 

Ain  el  Gelai- 

dat      .     .     . 

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Shobek  .     .     . 

5 

Sik,  Petra  . 

6 

Petra      .     . 

ii 

to  Mt.  Hor 

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Shobek 

7 

Buseirah     . 

6 

Tafileh  .     . 

3i 

el  Abrash  . 

•    7 

APPENDIX  I 

TRAVELLING   TIME 

hours 


direct 


Muleteers  8 

a 

8 

it 

6 

<« 

8 

« 

9 

3 

u 

8 

« 

9 

<< 

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« 

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7i 

8 

7 
6 


5 
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7i 

6i 


323 


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Appendix 


Ghor  Unsur    . 

5 

hours 

Zaweirah    . 

8 

" 

Bir    Im    Has- 

him    .     .     . 

7 

a 

Hebron 

4 

a 

Jerusalem  . 

7 

u 

uleteers  6 
8 

hours 

8 
6 

a 

APPENDIX  II 


.EVATIONS  TAKEN  BY  MEANS  OF  THREE 

ANEROID  BAROMETERS 

Jezzin — walnut  trees 

3300  feet 

Jedeideh — school 

2540 

Banias — bridge 

1200 

Ulleka — threshing  floor    . 

1725 

Tabigha — camp 

620 

Tiberias — camp 

620 

Gadara — North  theatre    . 

1215 

el  Husn — threshing  floor 

2150 

Jerash — fountain 

1757 

Remamin — threshing  floor 

1850     ' 

Naur — fountain         .... 

2740 

Madeba— church 

2800 

Diban —             .... 

2460 

Guard-house,  Arnon 

2800 

Kerak — parade  ground    . 

3400 

el  Ahsa — river 

1650 

Tafileh — telegraph  office 

365° 

Air.  el  Gelaidat — spring 

525° 

Shobek — in  fortress 

5000 

Sik— Petra        .... 

3600 

Khazneh 

33°° 

Petra — Arch  of  Triumph 

3000     ' 

High  Place 

37oo 

The  Deir       .... 

375°     ' 

App 

iendix 

325 

Mt.  Hor— tomb 

4600  feet 

Ghor — el  Abrash 

1150 

Dead  Sea 

— 1290 

Zaweirah  . 

—95° 

Bir  Im  Hashim 

2000 

Hebron    . 

3000     " 

APPENDIX  III 

SOME    OF   THE    TRAVELLERS    WHO    HAVE    LEFT 

RECORDS  OF  VISITS  TO  PETRA,   DURING 

THE  PAST  ONE  HUNDRED  YEARS 


1811 

Burckhardt. 

1818 

Irby  and  Mangles. 

1827 

Laborde  and  Linant. 

1837 

John  Stephens. 

1838 

Edward  Robinson. 

1840 

Stephen  Olin. 

1852 

Dean  Stanley. 

1870 

Palmer. 

1882 

Edward  L.  Wilson. 

1883 

Hull,  Kitchener,  and  Armstrong. 

1895 

Forder  and  Hornstein. 

1896 

Gray  Hill. 

1896 

Brunnow  and  Euting. 

1898 

Sir  Charles  Wilson  and  Hornstein 

1898 

Samuel  Ives  Curtis. 

1900 

George  L.  Robinson. 

APPENDIX    IV 

THE    HEDJAZ    RAILROAD 

Among  the  cherished  projects  of  the  present  Sultan,  Abd 
ul-Hamid,  and  by  far  the  most  ambitious,  is  the  realization  of 
the   Pan-Islamic   idea,  /.   e.,  the  union  of   all   Mohammedan 


326  Appendix 

peoples  under  the  spiritual  headship  of  the  Khalif-Sultan. 
Attempts  to  achieve  or  secure  this  have  met  with  many  re- 
buffs outside  of  the  Empire  but  within  the  Sultan's  domains 
nothing  has  attracted  more  attention  than  the  plan  to  build  a 
railroad  along  the  old  pilgrimage  route  from  Damascus  to 
Mecca,  a  distance  of  not  less  than  eighteen  hundred  kilo- 
metres. The  official  name  of  the  project  is  the  Hamidian 
Pilgrimage  Railroad,  linking  the  name  of  the  ruling  Sultan 
with  one  of  the  "  five  pillars  "  of  the  Mohammedan  faith,  viz., 
the  Pilgrimage  to  Mecca.  Very  early  in  the  discussion  of  the 
project  the  Shereef  of  Mecca  objected  to  having  the  Most 
Holy  City  defiled  by  foreign  rails  and  Medina  was  named  as 
the  southern  terminus,  fourteen  hundred  and  ten  kilometres 
from  Damascus,  so  that  since  then  the  plan  is  spoken  of  as 
"joining  the  two  holy  cities,  Damascus  and  Medina." 

After  nearly  five  years  of  feverish  activity,  as  things  go  in 
Turkey,  they  have  succeeded  in  completing  the  first  section, 
to  Maan,  a  distance  of  four  hundred  and  seventy  kilometres, 
which  is  exactly  one  third  of  the  distance  to  Medina.  This 
section  was  opened  September  i,  1904,  the  anniversary  of 
the  Sultan's  accession,  by  a  great  commission  which  came 
down  from  Constantinople  by  special  steamer  and  was  carried 
at  enormous  expense  all  the  way  to  Maan  for  the  opening 
ceremonies. 

Rumors  are  now  current  that  instead  of  going  on  toward 
Medina,  a  distance  of  nine  hundred  and  forty  kilometres,  the 
road  will  swing  westward  to  the  head  of  the  Gulf  of  Akabah 
(two  hundred  and  fifty  kilometres)  and  end  there  some  dis- 
tance from  the  Egyptian  frontier.  This  would  be  to  join  the 
pilgrimage  route  from  Egypt.  What  the  engineering  difficul- 
ties are  along  this  east  coast  of  the  Gulf  of  Akabah  no  one  yet 
knows,  but  it  will  certainly  be  a  much  more  difficult  route 
than  by  the  old  desert  road.  This  change  again  raises  the 
doubt  whether  the  road  was  ever  really  meant  to  be  carried 
toward  Medina. 

It  is  a  government  railroad  and  is  being  built  under  the 
direct  control  of  the  Sultan,  who  sends  down  the  higher  offi- 


Appendix  327 

cials  of  his  Imperial  household  to  serve  for  longer  or  shorter 
periods  in  the  great  work.  It  can  be  imagined  that  such  a 
policy  does  not  conduce  to  economy  in  any  department  ! 

It  will  be  one  of  the  most  remarkable  railroads  in  the  world 
in  its  financial  aspects.  It  can  never  be  made  to  pay.  It  is 
being  built  by  gifts  from  pious  Moslems  all  over  the  world 
and  by  a  series  of  stamp  and  other  acts  inside  the  Ottoman 
Empire  that  are  unique  even  in  Turkish  history.  When  the 
voluntary  gifts,  which  were  perhaps  less  than  one  hundredth 
part  of  the  cost  required,  grew  slack  the  Sultan  began  to  issue 
Imperial  Rescripts  and  has  kept  up  this  process  until  there 
are  stamps  or  imposts  on  nearly  everything  in  the  Empire. 
A  stamp  of  one  piastre  (four  cents)  was  levied  upon  every  peti- 
tion presented  to  the  government  authorities  for  every  con- 
ceivable purpose.  Then  came  a  house  tax  of  five  piastres  on 
every  house  in  Constantinople.  Provincial  governors  were 
expected  to  follow  this  shining  example.  Later  on  the  Sultan 
decided  upon  a  minimum  tax  of  five  piastres  upon  every 
Moslem  male  in  the  Empire  and  the  over-loyal  periodicals 
published  articles  declaring  that  Moslems  in  all  lands  ought  to 
accept  this  call  willingly  and  render  the  same  tribute  to  their 
spiritual  head  !  The  Rescript  gave  careful  directions  that 
five  piastres  was  the  minimum  for  the  poorest  but  all  who  could 
were  to  pay  according  to  their  ability.  Then  the  salaries  of 
all  government  officials  were  treated  to  a  per  centum  assess- 
ment. Then  all  owners  of  decorations,  and  they  are  myriad, 
were  directed  to  make  a  thank  offering  according  to  the  grade 
of  their  decorations  and  the  scale  of  gifts  was  published  in  all 
the  papers  !  Then  wood  and  coal  was  subjected  to  a  new 
impost  and  then  every  parcel  coming  through  every  custom 
house  in  the  Empire.  Another  Rescript  directed  that  all 
the  skins  of  all  the  animals  slaughtered  in  the  government 
slaughter  houses  should  be  devoted  to  this  holy  project. 
The  stamps  were  gradually  extended  to  all  commercial  papers, 
deeds,  etc.,  and  all  the  foreign  Embassies  put  in  their  pro- 
tests. The  road  is  nominally  built  by  the  followers  of  the 
prophet,  but  these  stamp   acts  have  put  both  the  Christians 


32$  Appendix 

and  the  foreigners  under  tribute  !  Almost  every  department 
of  the  government  has  been  obliged  to  make  some  contribu- 
tion to  this  pet  scheme  of  the  Sultan.  There  have  been  times 
of  financial  stringency  when  foreign  sellers  of  railroad  plant 
have  been  ungracious  enough  to  require  a  cash  accompani- 
ment to  orders  for  rails  and  rolling  stock.  As  the  rails  have 
lengthened  the  expenses  have  increased  and  no  one  can  see 
the  end  of  the  project  on  the  present  basis. 

German  engineers  surveyed  the  road,  Americans  are  now 
supplying  a  large  part  of  the  rails,  but  the  work  of  digging 
and  grading  has  been  done  mainly  by  the  battalions  of  regular 
soldiers  sent  down  along  the  line  for  that  purpose.  Special  in- 
ducements have  been  offered  to  those  who  will  use  the  pick 
and  shovel  instead  of  the  rifle — one  year  of  the  railroad  service 
counting  as  two  years  of  their  compulsory  military  service. 
So  that  even  the  military  establishment  of  the  Empire  has 
been  affected  by  this  marvellous  project.  This  will  explain 
how  the  four  hundred  and  seventy  kilometres  already  opened 
have  been  completed  at  an  apparently  small  expense. 

Up  to  the  end  of  the  fiscal  year  1319,  that  is,  April,  1904, 
there  had  been  collected  from  all  sources  132,637,027  piastres, 
or  about  $4,740,000  ;  the  first  and  the  largest  item  on  this 
list  being  74,215,380  piastres  ($2,650,000)  from  the  skins  of 
slaughtered  animals  ! 


APPENDIX    V 

EXPLANATION   OF   THE   PHOTOGRAPHS   OF   THE 
MOSAIC   MAP  OF   MADEBA 

The  following  information  will  serve  to  explain  the  ten 
plates  of  this  interesting  map,  which  are  given  herewith,  and 
which  are  photographic  reproductions  of  the  larger  plates  re- 
ferred to  in  Volume  I.,  Chapter  XII.,  page  260,  of  this  work. 

Plate  I.  gives  the  general  view  of  the  chart. 

Plate  II.  contains  the  course  of  the  Jordan  from  Aenon  to 


Appendix  329 

Bethabara.  Galgala  and  Jericho  are  seen  near  the  middle  of 
the  right  side  of  the  plate. 

Plate  III.  shows  the  mouth  of  the  Jordan  in  the  Dead  Sea. 
Near  the  centre  of  the  upper  side  is  Callirrhoe.  Bethabara  is 
near  the  mouth  of  the  river,  and  Jerusalem  is  located  at  the 
bottom  of  the  plate. 

Plate  IV. — The  plan  of  Jerusalem  and  its  environs.  The 
city  is  divided  into  two  portions  by  a  long  colonnade,  running 
from  north  to  south,  and  the  three  principal  gates  are  shown. 

Plate  V. — The  extreme  eastern  portion  of  the  map.  At  the 
top  of  the  plate,  Kerak  is  seen,  placed  on  the  summit  of  a 
mountain.  The  dark  portions  represent  the  mountains,  while 
the  long  white  line  represents  a  torrential  stream  running  from 
Kerak  to  the  Dead  Sea. 

Plate  VI. — Southern  portion  of  the  Dead  Sea.  The  legend 
at  the  top  gives  the  three  names — the  Salt  Sea,  Asphaltite 
Lake,  and  Dead  Sea.  The  trees  in  the  neighborhood  of  Zoora 
at  the  right  side  are  noteworthy. 

Plate  VII. — The  territory  occupied  by  the  tribe  of  Judah, 
with  the  name  at  the  top  of  the  map.  The  third  name  below 
this  is  Beth-Zacharia,  and  the  church  is  shown.  In  the  small 
separate  portion  Ascalon  is  to  be  found. 

Plate  VIII. — The  desert  of  the  Exodus,  and  the  territory 
of  Simeon.  The  place  where  the  brazen  serpent  was  shown  is 
marked,  as  also  the  place  where  the  manna  fell.  The  frontier 
towns  of  Egypt  are  seen  at  the  bottom  of  the  map. 

Plate  IX.  shows  much  of  the  above  chart,  but  gives  a  better 
idea  of  Gaza  on  the  left,  and  Pelusium  on  the  right. 

Plate  X. — Lower  Egypt  and  the  mouths  of  the  Nile.  Sinai 
is  represented  at  the  top  of  the  map.  The  branch  of  the  Nile 
at  the  left  is  called  the  Pelusiac  Branch.  The  central  portion 
is  called  the  Sebenitic,  and  has  three  mouths. 


Plate  II 


333 


KHi 


335 


Plate   IV 


337 


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Plate  VIII 


345 


X! 


349 


Appendix 
APPENDIX   VI 

SCRIPTURE    REFERENCES 


351 


Genesis  iii.,  27,  28    . 

I.,  277 

Genesis  x.,  15-19 

I.,  44 

Genesis  xiv.,  5 

I-i  254 

Genesis  xxii.,  22 

I.,  229 

Genesis  xxv.,  17 

II.,  62 

Genesis  xxxii.,  10     . 

I.,  119 

Genesis  xxxii.,  41-52 

I.,  277 

Genesis  xxxiv.,  1-8  . 

I-,  277 

Genesis  xlix.,  13 

I.,  270 

Genesis  xlix.,  25 

I.,  270 

Exodus  xv.,  15 

I.,  249 

Numbers  xx.,  23-29 

II-,  243 

Numbers  xxi.-xxxvi. 

I.,  249 

Numbers  xxi.,  11-13 

I.,  249,  300 

Numbers  xxi.,  12 

II.,  7 

Numbers  xxi.,  13 

I.,  300 

Numbers  xxi.,  14 

I.,  303 

Numbers  xxii.-xxiv. 

I.,  250 

Numbers  xxv. 

I.,  250 

Numbers  xxvi. 

I.,  250 

Numbers  xxvii. 

I.,  250 

Numbers  xxvii.,  12,  13 

I.,  277 

Numbers  xxxii. 

I.,  250 

Numbers  xxxiii.,  44-48     . 

I.,  249,  299 

Numbers  xxxv. 

I.,  250 

Deuteronomy    . 

I.,  249,  250 

Deuteronomy  i.,  1     . 

II.,  16 

Deuteronomy  ii.,  12 

II.,  60 

Deuteronomy  ii.,  13,  14    . 

II.,  7 

Deuteronomy  iv.,  43 

I-,  105 

Deuteronomy  iv.,  48 

I.,  300 

Deuteronomy  xxxiii.,  12   . 

I.,  270 

Deuteronomy  xxxiii.,  13   . 

I.,  270 

352 


Appendix 


Deuteronomy  xxxiv. 

I.,  250 

Joshua  xii.,  2    . 

I.,  244 

Judges  i.,  36     . 

II.,  64 

Judges  xi.,  16  . 

I-.  243 

Judges  xxi.,  8  . 

I.,  80 

2  Samuel  viii.,  2 

l;   255 

2  Samuel  viii.,  14 

II.,  61 

1  Kings  xi.,  17 

II.,   184 

1  Kings  xv.,  20 

I-,  83 

1  Kings  xv.,  29 

I-,  S3 

2  Kings  iii.,  4  . 

I-,   255,   256, 

333 

2  Kings  iii.,  9   . 

*■•>  334 

2  Kings  iii.,  25 

I.,  256 

2  Kings  iii.,  27 

1-j  254,  333 

2  Kings  xiv.,  7 

II.,  6.. 

2  Kings  xxiii.,  13-17 

II          T»- 

1  Chronicles  v.,  26 

r-»     255 

1  Chronicles  vi.,  71 

I.,     I06 

2  Chronicles  xxv.,  n 

II.,    6l 

2  Chronicles  xxv.,  12 

II.,    64 

Psalms  cvii.,  34 

II.,     297 

Song  of  Solomon  vii 

,  4 

I.,     246 

Isaiah  xvi.,  1     . 

II.,    64 

Isaiah  xlii.,  1 1 

11.,    64 

Ezekiel  xlvii.    . 

I.,  *54 

Obadiah,  3 

II.,  64,  65 

Matthew  iv  ,  25 

I.,  165 

Matthew  viii.,  28 

I.,  165 

Matthew  xvi.,  18 

I.,  102 

Mark  v.,  20 

I.,  165 

Mark  vii.,  31    . 

I.,  165 

John  xxi.,  9 

I.,  131 

The  Acts  ix.,  23 

II.,  63 

2  Corinthians  xi.,  32 

II.,  63 

Appendix  353 

APPENDIX   VII 

FOSSILS    AND    ROCKS    COLLECTED    IN    SYRIA 

NOTES   BY   GILBERT  VAN  INGEN,  CURATOR   OF   INVERTE- 
BRATE  PALEONTOLOGY,    E.    M.    MUSEUM   OF 
GEOLOGY,    PRINCETON    UNIVERSITY 

The  collection  of  fossils  and  rocks  brought  back  by  Professor 
Libbey  in  1902  from  the  vicinity  of  the  Jordan  Valley  in  Syria 
were  obtained  at  four  localities,  namely,  Mejdel  Shems,  Jerash 
to  El  Remamin  route,  Kerak  vicinity,  Petra  vicinity. 

The  material  from  Mejdel  Shems  includes  a  few  pyritized 
ammonites  (Nos.  5336-5339)  and  a  couple  of  non-pyritized 
rhynchonellas  (Nos.  5340-5341),  all  of  Jurassic  age.  The 
ammonites  are  species  well  known  in  the  Brown  Jura  of  Wiirt- 
temberg,  Germany,  and,  indeed,  their  condition  of  preservation 
is  quite  similar  to  that  of  the  pyritized  Wiirttembergian  speci- 
mens. The  rhynchonellas  are  in  a  different  matrix  evidently 
derived  from  another  horizon  of  the  Jurassic  than  that  which 
furnished  the  ammonites,  but  no  notes  on  their  relative  posi- 
tions can  be  given,  as  all  the  specimens  from  this  locality  were 
packed  in  a  single  package  with  only  one  label. 

A  lot  of  fossils  labelled  "  Jerash  to  El  Remamin  "  can  be 
separated  into  two  distinct  groups,  apparently  derived  from 
two  separate  beds,  one  a  yellowish  limestone  containing  crinoid 
plates  and  echinoid  spines  (Nos.  5342-5345);  the  other  a  cream 
to  light  buff  chalky  limestone  containing  pelecypods  (Nos. 
5346-5355).  These  fossils  represent  a  phase  of  the  Cenoman- 
ian  stage  of  the  Cretaceous. 

The  material  from  vicinity  of  Kerak  consists  of  cherty  lime- 
stone or,  more  strictly,  of  chert  layers  with  chalky  limestone 
partings.  The  surfaces  of  the  chert  blocks  are  covered  with 
fossils,  chiefly  shells  of  gastropods,  which  are  fairly  well  silici- 
fied  so  that  etching  with  hydrochloric  acid  often  improves  the 
specimens  for  purposes  of  study.  Two  distinct  faunas  are 
represented   in   this  lot  from   Kerak.     The   more  interesting 


354  Appendix 

fauna  is  an  assemblage  of  gastropods,  scaphopods  {Dentaliutn), 
ammonites,  Bacu/ites,  and  pelecypods,  which  are  described 
below  under  numbers  5356-5370;  the  other  fauna  is  that  of 
an  oyster-bank  containing  agglomerated  oyster-shells  of  two 
species,  with  unrecognizable  fragments  of  other  pelecypods, 
described  under  numbers  5371-5372.  The  associations  of 
these  entirely  distinct  faunas  are  unknown.  The  rock  contain- 
ing the  gastropod  fauna  is  a  light  bluish  gray  chert  that 
weathers  to  a  cream-colored  chalk;  the  chert  of  the  oyster- 
bank  is  likewise  bluish  gray,  but  all  its  weathered  surfaces  are 
reddish  buff.  The  age  of  this  gastropod  fauna  appears  to  be 
Senonian.  More  positive  identification  cannot  be  made,  as 
the  works  of  Diener  and  Blanckenhorn  on  the  Cretaceous 
faunas  of  Syria  have  not  been  accessible. 

The  material  from  vicinity  of  Petra  consists  of  a  few  speci- 
mens of  reddish  brown  sandstone  (Nos.  5373-5375)  from  the 
so-called  "  Nubian  sandstone,"  which  is  considered  by  most 
writers  upon  Syrian  geology  to  occupy  a  horizon  low  in  the 
Cretaceous  series  of  that  region.  No  fossils  occur  in  the  few 
specimens  at  hand. 

NOTES  ON   THE   FOSSILS 

The  identifications  herein  made  are  based  on  the  published 
descriptions  and  illustrations  found  in  the  works  cited  at  the 
end  of  these  notes.  Direct  comparison  with  well-authenticated 
specimens  has  been  impossible.  The  illustrations  on  the  ac- 
companying plates  have  been  reproduced  directly  from  unre- 
touched  negatives.  Some  of  the  figures  are  enlarged,  others 
reduced,  and  in  all  cases  the  dimensions  of  the  original  are 
given  in  the  explanations  to  the  plates.  The  numbers  are 
those  under  which  the  specimens  are  catalogued  in  the  E. 
M.  Museum  of  Geology  and  Archaeology  of  Princeton  Uni- 
versity. 

JURASSIC   FOSSILS 

The  Jurassic  beds  of  the  vicinity  of  Mejdel  Shems,  on  the 
route  from  Banias  to  Damascus,  are  described  bv  Fraas  (Orient, 


Appendix  355 

ii.,  p.  14)  as  presenting  (a)  the  White  Jura,  a  gray,  rapidly 
weathering,  marly  limestone  20  metres  thick  containing  a  great 
abundance  of  Rhynchonella  lacunosa  ;  (b)  a  middle  zone  of 
dark  gray  clays  1.5  metres  thick  with  Ammonites  hecticus, 
convolutus,  and  other  species  characteristic  of  the  Ornatenthon 
of  the  uppermost  Brown  Jura  of  Germany;  and  (c)  the  lowest 
bed,  of  greenish  gray  sand  and  clay  marl  with  Rhynchonella 
concinna,   Terebratula  perovalis,  and  Peeten  si/barmatus. 

The  few  Jurassic  fossils  in  our  collection  from  the  above 
locality  comprise  four  species  of  isolated  pyritized  ammonites, 
and  two  species  of  non-pyritized  rhynchonellas.  The  ammo- 
nites have  undoubtedly  come  from  Fraas's  zone  (b),  the  Brown 
Jura;  the  brachiopods  from  zone  (a),  the  White  Jura.  The 
species  have   been    identified  as  follows. 

5336.  Aspidoceras  perarmatum  Sowerby.     (Plate  C,  Fig. 
1.) 

D'Orbigny,  Paleontol.  Franc,  Terr.  Jur.,  PI.  184. 
Quenstedt,  Jura,  PI.  75. 

A  single  specimen  without  the  living  chamber  and  outer 
whorls,  but  showing  finely  the  sutures  of  what  appears  to  be 
the  third  or  fourth  whorl.  The  specimen  has  the  apical 
whorls,  probably  two  of  them,  missing,  and  two  whorls  are 
shown.  The  length  is  42  millimetres;  the  truncated  whorl 
measures  18  mm.  wide  and  15  mm.  high.  Fraas,  1S77  (in 
Jurasch.  am  Hermon,  p.  26),  cites  this  species  as  being  repre- 
sented among  his  "  Medjdel  esch  Schems  "  material  by  very 
large  individuals. 

5337  (a  and  b).  Perisphinctes  convolutus  evexus  Quen- 
stedt.    (Plate  C,  Figs.  2,  3.) 

Quenstedt,  Petr.  Deutschl.,  Ceph.  Plate  13,  f.  1-6. 
Quenstedt,  Amnion.  Schw.  Jura,  ii.,  Plate  Sr,  f.  15-19. 

This  species  is  represented  by  two  well-preserved  internal 
casts  of  adult  individuals.  One  of  these  (5337a)  exhibits 
finely  the  sutures,  surface  folds,  constrictions,  and  in  particular 


356  Appendix 

the  pair  of  scars  anterior  to  the  last  two  constrictions.  These 
scars  apparently  indicate  the  positions  of  the  lateral  apertural 
lappets  during  earlier  stages  of  the  ontogeny  of  this  individual. 
The  nature  of  these  scars  does  not  appear  to  have  been  deemed 
worthy  of  consideration  by  Quenstedt,  who  figures  them 
(Amnion.  Schw.  Jur.,  vol.  ii.,  pi.  81,  f.  13,  14;  also  vol. 
iii.,  pi.  100,  f.  6,  pi.  104,  f.  8).  On  pages  924  and  953  of 
the  same  work  he  mentions  them  as  follows:  "  Exemplar 
zeichert  sich  durch  parabolische  Schnirkel  in  den  Rucken- 
kanten  aus,  doch  lege  ich  darauf  keinen  Werth,  da  sie  beliebig 
erscheinen  und  beliebig  verschwinden."  And  further  on: 
und  doch  scheinen  sie  ihr  mehr  oder  weniger 
deutliches  auftreten  einer  Missbildung  zu  danken."  Oppel 
(Paleont.  Mittheil.,  Stuttgart,  1860-65)  considers  the  presence 
of  these  scars  as  indicative  of  specific  differentiation,  but  gives 
no  indication  of  his  opinion  regarding  their  morphological 
significance.  Dimensions:  Longest  diameter,  26  mm. ;  width 
body  whorl,  17.7  mm.;  height  of  body  chamber,  7  ;///;/. 

5338.  Creniceras  renggeri  Oppel.     (Plate  C,  Fig.  4.) 

Ammonites  dentatus  Quenstedt,  1S58  (pars),   Jura,  Taf.   76,  f.  8  (not 

6,7). 
Creniceras  renggeri  Oppel.     Zittel-Eastman,  Pal.,  i.,  p.  569,  f.  1178. 

This  species  is  represented  by  a  single  specimen,  wholly 
pyritized,  showing  the  small  umbilicus  of  the  younger  interior 
convolutions,  which  becomes  wider  in  the  adult  stage;  the 
smooth  surface,  and  the  ventral  crenulations  of  the  round- 
acute  keel,  as  figured  bv  Quenstedt.  The  dimensions  of  our 
specimen  when  viewed  from  the  side  are:  height,  23  mm.; 
width,  19  mm.;  thickness  of  the  body  chamber,  4  mm. 

5339.  Ammonites  gen.  et  spec,  indet. 

Two  imperfect  specimens  of  young  individuals  of  possibly 
a  species  of  Stepheoceras.  The  better  specimen  of  the  two, 
that  figured,  is  18  mm.  in  diameter,  shows  4  convolutions,  the 
outermost  of  which  is  9.8  mm.  wide  and  6.4  mm.  high,  and  has 
the  surface  strongly  ribbed.  The  ribs  are  rounded  and  every 
second  or  third  rib  carries  two  knobs  on  the  latera.      On  the 


Appendix  357 

ventro-lateral  angles  the  ribs  bifurcate  and  their  branches  are 
continuous  with  low  convex  curves  across  the  slightly  flattened 
venter. 

5340.  Rhynchonella  cf  tetraedra  Sowerby. 

Quenstedt,  1858,  Jura,  pi.  22,  figs.  11,  12. 
Davidson,  Brit.  Foss.  Brach.,  i.,  pi.  xviii.,  figs.  5-9. 

A  single  ventricose  senile  individual,  referred  provisionally 
to  this  species,  has  a  length  of  30  mm.,  width  38  mm.,  and 
height  of  30  mm.  at  two  thirds  the  length  of  the  shell. 

5341.  Rhynchonella  cf  quadriplicata  Zieten. 

Davidson,  Brit.  Foss.  Brach.,  iv.,  p.  201,  pi.  xxix.,  figs.  1-3. 
A  single,  much  exfoliated  specimen  in  our  collection  from 
Mejdel  Shems  seems  to  agree  specifically  with  the  individuals 
illustrated  by  Davidson's  figures  1  and  3  mentioned  above, 
the  originals  of  which  are  from  the  Inferior  Oolite  of  England. 
Our  specimen  differs  from  those  figured,  in  that  it  has  a  slightly 
higher  beak  on  the  ventral  valve.  Its  dimensions  are:  height, 
^  mm. ;  width,  32.3  mm.  at  two  thirds  of  its  length;  thickness, 
21  mm.  at  one  half  of  its  length. 

CRETACEOUS    FOSSILS    FROM    JERASH    TO    EL    REMAMIN 

ROUTE 

A.  Echinoid  beds,  of  the  "  glandarius  zone  "  of  Fraas  and 
other  writers  on  Syrian  geology,  and  considered  by  Fraas  to 
be  of  lower  Cenomanian  horizon. 

5342.  Apiocrinus?  sp  ? 

A  worn  fragment  of  a  crinoid  column,  having  a  length  of 
20  mm.  and  diameter  of  10  mm.,  with  the  joints  averaging 
2  mm.  in  length,  appears  to  be  referable  to  some  species  of 
Apiocrinus. 

5343.  Cidarites  glandarius  Lang. 

Cidarites  glandarius  authentica  Quenstedt,  Petref.  Deutschl.  Echino- 

dermen,  Taf.  68,  figs.  53-5S,  62-64. 
Cidarites  glandarius  Fraas,  Aus  dem  Orient,  ii.,  p.  27,  pi.  i.,  figs.  2-10. 
Spines  of  Cidaris  Conrad.     Lynch,  Exped.,  p.  212,  pi.  i.,  figs.  3-5. 


358  Appendix 

These  solid  club-shaped  echinoid  spines  from  Syria  are  to 
be  found  in  nearly  all  palaeontological  museums.  There  are 
eleven  specimens  in  the  Libbey  collection,  which  present  all 
variations  of  form  and  ornamentation  illustrated  by  Quen- 
stedt's  and  Fraas's  figures  cited  above. 

5344.  Cidarites  glandarius  claviphoenix  Fraas. 

Fraas,  Aus  dem  Orient,  ii.,  p.  2g,  pi.  i.,  fig.  n. 
Among  our  cidarite  spines  is  one  specimen  that  closely  re- 
sembles the  figure  cited  above  and  referred  by  Fraas  to  C. 
glan.  claviphoenix  of  Quenstedt.  Fraas's  figure  shows  a 
smooth  surfaced  spine,  which  in  our  opinion  is  nothing  but  a 
water-worn  specimen  of  the  slightly  tuberculate  type  to  which 
Quenstedt  gave  the  varietal  name  of  "  claviphcenix."  Our 
specimen  is  about  two  thirds  the  size  of  that  shown  in  Fraas's 
figure,  and  ours  certainly  owes  its  smooth  surface  to  water 
erosion,  for  traces  of  its  original  minutely  reticulate  and  tuber- 
culate ornamentation  can  be  seen  at  certain  less-worn  portions 
of  its  surface. 

5345.  Cidarites  glandarius  claviphoenix  Quenstedt. 

Quenstedt,  Petref.  Deutschl.  Echin.,  pi.  68,  figs.  46-48. 
Six  specimens  of  obovate  spines,  the  surfaces  of  which  are 
quite  smooth  below,  are  referred  to  this  variety.  Scarcely 
any  constriction  at  the  neck  differentiates  this  variety  from  the 
typical  glandarius.  The  ornamentation  also  varies.  Tuber- 
cles are  absent  from  the  lower  third  of  the  surface,  where  the 
ornamentation  consists  of  delicate  reticulated  raised  lines. 
The  tubercles  appear  as  small  points  at  the  top  of  the  lower 
third,  increase  in  size,  and  coalesce  to  form  delicate  ridges 
which  converge  radially  to  the  centre  of  the  distal  end  of  the 
spine. 

B.  Pelecypod  fauna  in  soft  cream  to  light  buff  chalky  lime- 
stone, collected  en  route  from  Jerash  to  El  Remamin.  Ceno- 
manian  in  age. 

5346.  Cardium  cf  pauli  Coquand. 

Lartet-Luynes,  Expl.  Geol.  Mer  Morte,  p.  131,  pi.  xi.,  figs.  1-2. 


Appendix  359 

A  single  fairly  perfect  internal  cast  is  referred  to  this  species. 
Its  dimensions  are:  length,  44  mm. ;  height,  43  mm. ;  thickness, 
27  mm. 

5347.  Pholadomya  syriaca  Conrad. 

Conrad,  in  Lynch,  1S52,  Exped.  Dead  Sea,  etc.,  p.  231,  Appendix,  pi. 
2,  fig.  17. 

A  single  imperfect  internal  cast  is  referred  to  Conrad's 
species. 

5348.  Plicatula  reynesi  Coquand. 

Lartet-Luynes,  Expl.  Geol.  Mer  Morte,  p.  137,  pi.  xi.,  figs.  21,  22. 

Four  imperfect  specimens  correspond  to  the  figures  and 
description  of  this  species  given  by  Lartet. 

5349.  Pecten  sp  ? 

An  undeterminable  fragment  of  the  central  portion  of  outer 
surface  of  a  valve. 

5350.  Gryphaea   marcoui  Hill  and  Vaughan. 

Hill  and  Vaughan,  189S,  Bull.  151  U.  S.  G.  S.,  pp.  50-53,  pis.  ii.-v. 
Gryphiza pitcheri  Fraas,  Aus  dem  Orient,  ii..  p.  86. 

The  Libbey  collection  contains  eleven  specimens  which 
conform  in  all  respects  with  the  descriptions  and  figures  of 
Gryphaa  marcoui  from  the  Texan  Cretaceous  published  by 
Hill  and  Vaughan.  The  Texan  originals  are  from  the  Fred- 
ericksburg division  of  the  Lower  Cretaceous.  Length,  45  mm. ; 
width,  34  mm. 

5351.  Serpula  sp  ? 

Attached  to  the  shell  of  one  of  the  specimens  of  Gryphcsa 
marcoui  is  the  winding  tube  of  a  serpulid  annelid,  the  surface 
of  which  is  so  worn  as  to  render  its  characters  undeterminable. 

5352-  Gryphaea  mermeti  Coquand. 

Lartet-Luynes,  Expl.  Geol.  Mer  Morte,  pi.  ix.,  figs.  4-13. 
Lartet,  Ann.  Sci.  Geol.,  iii.,  pi.  10. 

Two  water-worn  specimens  are  referred  to  this  species. 


360  Appendix 

5353.  Gryphaea  mermeti  sulcata  Lartet. 

Lartet-Luynes,  Expl.  Geol.  Mer  Morte,  pi.  9,  figs.  10,  II. 
Lartet,  Ann.  Sci.  Geol.,  iii.,  pi.  10,  figs.  14,  15. 

A  single  water-worn  specimen  showing  traces  of  radial  ribs 
may  be  referred  to  this  variety. 

5354.  Holectypus  larteti  Cotteau. 

Cotteau,  1869,  Bull.  Soc.  Geol.  France  [2],  vol.  xxvi.,  p.  537,  figs. 

Lartet-Luynes,  Expl.  Geol.  Mer  Morte,  p.  155,  pi.  xiv. ,  figs.  1-3. 

?  Echinus  libanensis  Conrad,  1852,  Lynch,  Exped.,  p.  235,  pi.  8,  f.  54. 

A  single  imperfect  specimen  is  referred  to  the  species  illus- 
trated by  Lartet.  Length,  26  mm. ;  width  26  mm. ;  height 
14.5  mm. 

5355.  Venus  (?)  sp. 

An  apparently  perfect  shell  is  found  on  close  examination  to 
have  the  umbonal  regions  crushed  so  that  the  beaks  appear  to 
be  strongly  incurved  over  the  cardinal  margin.  The  characters 
of  lunule  and  posterior  area  are  disguised  and  hinge  invisible. 
An  internal  mould  of  a  Venus-like  pelecypod  which  occurs  in 
the  collection  is  too  imperfect  for  identification. 

Length  of  entire  specimen,  49  mm.;  height,  46.5  mm.; 
thickness  of  both  valves,  26  mm. 

CRETACEOUS   FOSSILS   FROM    KERAK 

A.  Gastropod  fauna  of  the  blue  chert  with  chalky  limestone 
partings.     Age — Senonian? 

5356.  Turritella  seetzeni  Lartet.     (Plate  A,  Fig.  D;   Plate 
B,  Figs.  1  and  3;  Plate  C,  Fig.  7.) 

Lartet,  1872,  Ann.  Sci.  Geol.,  iii.,  p.  43,  pi.  9,  figs.  9,  10. 
Lartet-Luynes,  1877,  Expl.  Geol.  Mer  Morte,  p.  120,  pi.  xii.,  figs.  15, 
16,  ibe. 

This  species  is  abundantly  represented  on  the  surfaces  of 
the  blocks  of  chert  in  our  collection,  a  condition  well  illus- 
trated by  our  Fig.  0  of  Plate  A.  Lartet's  figures  and  de- 
scription give  the  species  only  two  keels;  "one  median,  the 
other  near  the   anterior   suture."     Our  numerous  specimens 


Appendix  361 

show  that  the  species  has  a  smooth  surface  during  its  younger 
stages,  two  delicate  keels  are  acquired  simultaneously  on  the 
second  whorl,  a  third  keel  appears  on  the  third  whorl  between 
the  median  keel  and  the  anterior  suture,  and  a  fourth  keel  is 
visible  only  on  the  basal  whorl  on  which  it  continues  the  line 
of  the  suture.  The  shell  illustrated  by  Fig.  7  of  Plate  C 
has  a  length  of  30  mm,  basal  width  of  10  mm.,  and  the  basal 
whorl  is  7  mm.  high. 

5357.  Turritella  reyi  Lartet.     (Plate  B,  Figs.  1  and  3.) 

Lartet,  1S72,  Ann.  Sci.  Geol.,  iii.,  p.  43,  pi.  9,  figs.  13,  14. 
Lartet-Luynes,  Expl.  Geol.  Mer  Morte,  p.  122,  pi.  xii.,  figs.  21,  22. 

This  unicarinate  species  is  common  though  not  so  abundant 
as  the  foregoing  species.  The  two  specimens  shown  on  the 
block  of  chert  figured  are  respectively  15.5  and  27.3  mm.  in 
length. 

5358.  Natica  orientalis  Conrad.     (Plate  B,  Fig.  3.) 
Conrad,  1852,  Lynch,  Exped.  Dead  Sea,  Appendix,  p.  233,  pi.  5,  f.  41. 
Compare  "  Aratica  sp.,"  Lartet,  Ann.  Sci.  Geol.,  iii.,  p.  35,  pi.  10,  f.  3. 
Compare  "  Natica  sp."  Lartet-Luynes,  Expl.  Geol.  Mer  Morte,  p.  117, 

pi.  xii.,  figs.  17,  18. 

Two  specimens  of  a  species  of  Natica,  having  the  strongly 
impressed  sutures  described  and  figured  by  Conrad,  are  at- 
tached to  the  surface  of  the  block  of  chert  illustrated  by  Fig. 
3  of  Plate  B.  The  form  of  the  aperture  and  basal  portion 
of  the  shell  cannot  be  seen  in  our  specimens.  The  dimen- 
sions of  the  larger  of  the  two  are:  Length  11.5  mm.,  basal 
width  9  mm.,  height  of  last  whorl  8.5  mm. 

5359.  Cerithium  kerakense  sp.  nov.     (Plate  C,  Fig.  10.) 

Cf.  "Cerithium?  nov.  sp."  Lartet,  Ann.  Sci.  Geol.,  iii.,  p.  38,  pi.  x., 
figs-  4.  5-  from  the  chert  of  the  Moabite  plateau  at  Schihan. 

Shell  with  elongated  conic  spire,  with  seven  evenly  rounded 
whorls  all  of  which  are  ornamented  with  strong  rounded  longi- 
tudinal ridges  and  with  fine  sharp  spiral  ribs  that  form  crescentic 
imbricated  crests  where  they  cross  the  summits  of  the  ridges. 
The  aperture  is  not  visible  as  the  shell  is  partly  imbedded  in 


J 


62  Appendix 


the  chert  matrix.  Dimensions:  Length  9  mm.,  width  of  basal 
whorl  5  mm.,  height  of  basal  whorl  3.2  mm.,  four  longitudinal 
ridges  in  2  mm.,  and  5  spiral  lines  in  2  mm.  on  basal  whorl. 
The  species  is  represented  by  one  fairly  well  preserved  and 
by  another  fragmentary  specimen  on  the  surface  of  a  chert 
block. 

5360.  Bulla  (Haminea)  kerakensis  sp.  now      (Plate  B, 
Fig.  3-) 

A  small  subglobular  elliptical  shell  with  thick  porcellanous 
walls.  The  aperture  is  considerably  longer  than  the  axis  of 
the  shell  and  its  anterior  and  posterior  margins  flare  broadly, 
while  its  lateral  margin  is  nearly  straight  and  slightly  thickened. 
The  columellar  margin  is  thickened,  and  lies  to  the  right  of  or 
outside  of  the  axis  of  the  shell  and  is  parallel  to  it.  The  base 
is  minutely  perforated.  Spire  impressed.  Surface  marked  by 
numerous  delicate  sharply  impressed  spiral  lines  which  are 
scarcely  distinguishable  on  the  upper  and  outer  portions  of 
the  shell  but  become  very  apparent  toward  the  basal  portion. 
Our  species  resembles  Haminea  lamarckii  Deshayes,  1864 
(Descr.  Anim.  sans  Vert.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  641,  pi.  40,  figs.  25-28) 
from  the  Calcaire  Grossier  of  the  Paris  basin  Eocene,  but  has 
a  slightly   more   oblique  body  whorl  and   a  wider  aperture. 

Dimensions:  Length  2.8  /;/;//.,  width  at  middle  1.8  mm  , 
width  of  aperture  0.7  //////.,  height  of  inner  whorl  at  columellar 
lip  1.8  mm.  Another  individual  the  aperture  of  which  is  im- 
bedded in  chert  has  a  length  of  3.0  mm.  and  a  width  of 
1.8  ;///;/. 

Only  two  specimens  of  this  shell  are  in  hand,  both  of  which 
are  attached  to  the  surface  of  the  chert  block  figured  on  Plate 
B. 

5361.  Scalaria  goryi  Lartet.     (Plate  C,  Fig.  13.) 

Lartet,  1S72,  Ann.  Sci.  Geol.,  iii.,  p.  44,  pi.  10,  figs.  6,  7. 
Lartet-Luynes,  Expl.  Geol.  Mer  Morte,  p.  123,  pi.  x.,  figs.  20  a  and  b- 

Two  imperfect  specimens  of  this  species  are  found  on  the 
blocks  of  chert  from  Kerak. 


Appendix  363 

5362.  Dentalium  hexagonum  sp.  nov.     (Plate  B,  Figs,  i 
and  2;   Plate  A,  Fig.  B.) 

Shells  of  a  species  of  Dentalium  are  common  in  association 
with  Turritella  seetzeni  on  the  surfaces  of  chert  blocks  from 
Kerak.  They  seem  to  represent  a  new  species,  the  characters 
of  which  are  as  follows.  Shells  elongated,  slightly  curved, 
cylindrical  in  section;  smooth  in  nepionic  (young)  stages, 
hexagonal  in  neanic  (adolescent),  and  again  irregularly  rounded 
in  ephebic  (adult)  stages.  The  posterior  extremity  of  the  shell 
is  not  seen  on  any  of  our  specimens.  Several  specimens  show 
the  perfectly  smooth  nepionic  stage.  The  neanic  stage  is 
marked  by  the  assumption  of  six  sharp  equidistant  longitudinal 
carinae  associated  with  crowded  irregular  normally  transverse 
growth  lines,  which  often  become  transverse  ridges.  In  the 
adult  the  longitudinal  carina?  quite  disappear  and  the  trans- 
verse rings  often  become  very  prominent.  Length  35  mm., 
maximum  width  2.9  mm. 

5363.  Melania  kerakensis  sp.  nov.    (Plate  C,  Figs.  5  and  6.) 
Among  the  residual  material  obtained  by  digesting  some  of 

the  chalky  limestone  from  Kerak  in  hydrochloric  acid  were 
found  several  young  and  adult  specimens  of  a  turretted  gas- 
tropod which  appear  to  represent  a  species  of  Melanin.  As 
nothing  resembling  it  is  described  or  illustrated  in  the  litera- 
ture at  our  command,  we  have  decided  to  present  it  as  a  new 
species.     Its  characters  are  as  below. 

Shell  with  depressed  conic  turretted  spire  with  an  angle  of 
about  forty  degrees.  The  whorls  are  five  to  six  in  number. 
Of  these  the  two  apical  whorls  are  rounded  and  smooth ;  the 
lowermost  three  or  four  rounded  and  carinated.  The  carinae 
of  the  basal  whorls  are  three,  in  the  form  of  subacute  spiral  ribs. 
The  upper  primary  carina  is  the  most  prominent  and  is  situ- 
ated at  the  median  line  of  the  whorl  and  has  its  crest  studded 
with  short  flattened  spines.  The  two  carinae  occupying  the 
lower  halves  of  the  basal  whorls  are  less  prominent,  narrower 
keels  without  spines.  The  lowermost  keel,  marking  the  ex- 
tension of  the  suture  line,  is  visible  only  on  the  basal  whorl; 


364  Appendix 

while  the  median  keel  appears  first  on  the  fourth  whorl  and 
occupies  a  median  position  between  the  third  and  the  primary 
keel.  The  area  between  the  suture  and  the  primary  keel  is 
slightly  tumid;  the  other  intervals  are  concave.  The  base  of 
the  shell  is  tumid  and  there  is  a  minute  umbilicus.  The 
aperture  is  subcircular,  the  lip  apparently  thin  and  entire 
Length  about  8  mm.,  width  of  basal  whorl  5  mm.,  height  of 
aperture  3  mm. 

5364.  Turritella  cf  maussi  Lartet. 

Expl.  Geol.  Mer  Morte,  p.  122,  pi.  xii.,  figs.  12,  13. 

Several  imperfect  casts  of  a  small  Turritella  with  elongate 
spire  and  rounded  whorls  are  referred  to  this  species. 

5365.  Baculites  asper  Morton.     (Plate  A,  Fig.  A ;  Plate  B, 
Fig.  3;  Plate  C,  Fig.  n.) 

Roemer,  1852,  Kreide  Texas,  pi.  ii.,  f.  2. 

Lartet,  1872,  Ann    Sci.  Geol.,  p.  35,  pi.  9,  f.  2. 

Lartet-Luynes,  1877,  Expl.  Geol.  Mer  Morte,  p.  115,  pi.  viii.,  f.  7. 

On  the  slabs  of  chert  from  Kerak  are  seen  several  badly 
crushed  fragments  of  a  species  of  Baculites,  which  appears  to 
be  identical  with  that  described  and  figured  by  Lartet.  Lar- 
tet's  examples  were  from  the  "compact  limestone  which  forms 
the  Seuil  de  l'Arabah  (Arabia  Petraea)  and  from  the  western 
margin  of  the  Dead  Sea."  Among  the  silicified  material  re- 
leased by  digestion  of  the  slabs  in  acid  were  found  two  frag- 
ments of  the  younger  portions  of  the  shells  of  this  species,  both 
of  which  show  the  sutures  in  neanic  stages  of  development. 
The  better  of  these  is  illustrated  by  Figure  n  of  Plate  C. 

5366.  Sphenodiscus  ?  sp  ?     (Plate  C,  Figs.  8  and  9.) 

Two  fragmentary  specimens  of  a  species  of  Sphenodiscus 
are  in  our  collection.  One  (PI.  C,  Fig.  8)  is  a  badly  crushed 
probably  mature  individual  on  the  face  of  a  block  of  chert. 
The  shell  is  45  mm.  high,  with  smooth  surface,  sharp  ventral 
keel,  and  small  umbilicus.  The  only  visible  traces  of  the 
suture  are  on  the  last  whorl,  where  they  show  the  first  and 


Appendix  365 

second  lateral  saddles  to  be  subcircular  and  entire,  and  the 
corresponding  lobes  to  be  slightly  phylliform. 

The  other  specimen  is  a  silicified  fragment  representing 
probably  the  young  of  this  same  species.  The  protoconch 
and  the  first  whorl  and  outer  half  of  the  second  volution  are 
preserved  (PI.  C,  Fig.  9).  The  sutures  show  on  the  outer 
half  of  the  second  volution,  but  cannot  be  distinguished  on 
the  first  volution.  At  the  completion  of  the  second  volution 
there  are  four  rounded  short  lateral  lobes  and  as  many  entire 
open  shallow  saddles,  and  the  same  shape  is  maintained  in  the 
succeeding  four  sutures.  Form  of  ventral  lobe  not  discernible. 
Diameter  at  second  volution  7  mm.,  width  of  whorl  1.8  mm. 

5367.  Corbula  olivae  Whitfield. 

Bull.  Amer.  Mus.  Nat.  Hist.,  vii. ,  p.  413,  pi.  vii.,  figs.  19-21. 
A  few  fragmentary  specimens  showing  the  enrolled  umbones 
and  strongly  costate  anterior  portions  of  the  right  valves  of  this 
species  were  recognized  protruding  from  the  surface  of  blocks 
of  chert.  One  may  be  distinguished  near  the  edge  of  the 
block  carrying  Turritella  reyi  (Plate  B,  Fig.  3). 

536S.   Area  sp?     (Plate  B,  Fig.  3.) 

A  number  of  small  shells  of  a  species  of  Area  3  to  5  mm. 
long  are  attached  to  the  surface  of  the  block  of  chert  upon 
which  are  several  of  the  species  mentioned  above.  The  car- 
dinal area  appears  to  be  smooth,  with  a  distinct  slightly  de- 
pressed triangular  median  area.  The  hinge  characters  and 
interior  are  wholly  unknown. 

5369.  Venus  sp  ?     (Plate  A,  Fig.  C\  Plate  B,  Figs.  1  and  3.) 
Upon  the  surface  of  the  same  block  carrying  Area,  Bulla, 

Turritella,  etc.,  are  several  crushed  valves  of  a  thin  shelled, 
concentrically  costate  species  of  Venus,  the  hinge  and  interior 
characters  of  which  are  quite  unknown. 

5370.  Leda  grovei  Lartet,  1877. 

Lartet-Luynes,  1877,  Expl.  Geol.  Mer  Morte,  p.  127,  pi.  xii.,  f.  17. 
The  hinge  of  a  species  of  Leda,  which  may  be  identical  with 


366  Appendix 

the  species  cited,  protrudes  from  the  surface  of  a  chert  block. 
The  outline  of  the  shell  can  be  traced,  but  its  form  is  dis- 
guised by  its  crushed  condition. 

The  association  of  species  noticed  on  our  blocks  of  chert 
from  Kerak  is  quite  similar  to  that  indicated  by  Lartet  as  oc- 
curring on  his  "  Silex  de  Schihan."  This  resemblance  is  well 
shown  by  a  comparison  of  his  Figure  7  of  Plate  XII.  with  the 
photograph  of  a  Kerak  block  reproduced  on  our  Plate  B, 
Figure  3. 

B.   Oyster  bank  specimens  from  vicinity  of  Kerak: 

5371.  Ostraea  cf  flabellata  d'Orbigny. 

Lartet-Luynes,  Expl.  Geol.  Mer  Morte,  p.  146,  pi.  x.,  figs.  10-13. 
The  shells  of  which  these  oyster  bank  cherts  are  almost 
wholly  composed  represent  two  species  of  Ostraea.  One  of 
them,  referred  to  the  above  species,  is  a  thin  shelled  strongly 
plicate  form,  of  which  fragmentary  specimens  only  can  be 
recognized. 

5372.  Ostraea  olisoponensis  Sharpe. 

Lartet-Luynes,  1877,  Expl.  Geol.  Mer  Morte,  p.  13S,  pi.  ix.,  figs.  1-3. 

This  is  a  thick-shelled  sparingly  nodulate  but  otherwise 
smooth  species,  of  which  a  few  specimens  can  be  distinguished 
among  the  crushed  agglomerate  of  the  oyster  bank  chert. 

Both  of  these  species  of  Ostraea  are  recorded  by  Lartet  from 
the  vicinity  of  Kerak. 

NOTES   ON   SANDSTONE    FROM    THE   VICINITY   OF    PETRA 

5373.  A  number  of  pieces  of  very  friable  loosely  cemented 
reddish  brown  sandstone  show  well  developed  cross  bedding. 
The  color  varies  from  a  dominant  reddish  brown  to  blue-gray 
and  purplish  tints  which  occur  locally  in  small  portions  of  the 
rock.  Digestion  in  hydrochloric  acid  dissolves  the  iron  salts  and 
an  apparently  small  amount  of  calcareous  cement  with  slight 
effervescence,  and  leaves  as  a  residue  a  warm  cream-colored 


Appendix  367 

loose  quartz  sand  with  very  little  quartz  flour,  and  apparently 
no  aluminous  silt.  The  grains  average  0.2  to  0.3  mm.,  with 
some  larger  of  1.0  to  1.5  mm.,  and  scattered  through  the  rock 
are  numerous  small  rounded  pebbles  of  2.0  to  6.0  mm.  diame- 
ter. Many  of  the  grains  appear  to  be  rounded.  Examination 
in  glycerine  under  the  polarizing  microscope  shows  that  the 
original  nuclear  grains  of  detrital  quartz  are  all  of  marked 
angular  form,  and  that  such  rounding  as  occurs  is  due  to  the 
accidental  form  assumed  by  the  coating  of  secondarily  de- 
posited quartz,  a  considerable  amount  of  which  has  been  re- 
ceived by  each  original  nuclear  grain.  This  coating  shows  as 
a  covering  of  minute  pyramidal  points,  many  of  which  show 
fairly  large  brilliant  crystalline  faces.  No  accessory  minerals 
are  detected  in  this  sand,  beyond  the  hydrous  iron  oxides  of 
the  cement.     No  magnetite  occurs. 

The  absence  of  accessory  minerals  indicates  that  this  sand 
has  been  transported  far  from  its  point  of  origin  without  ad- 
mixture of  additional  material  along  the  way,  or  that  it  repre- 
sents the  debris  from  a  region  of  chert-bearing  limestone  rocks. 
The  angular  form  of  the  original  grains  suggests  water  as  the 
transporting  agent,  for  the  size  of  the  nuclear  grains  of  sand  is 
below  the  minimum  limit  of  rounding  by  attrition  in  water  and 
at  the  same  time  well  above  the  minimum  for  seolian  attrition. 
The  absence  of  small  rounded  nuclear  grains  indicates  that 
during  its  transportation  this  sand  has  at  no  time  received  ac- 
cessions from  desert  or  pseudodesert  areas  (river  dunes).  It 
does  not  conform  to  the  characters  of  those  pure  quartz  sands 
of  marine  origin  which  I  have  examined,  for  these  latter  all 
show  a  goodly  proportion,  often  very  large,  of  well-rounded 
wind-worn  grains,  due  to  the  fact  that  they  are  accumulated 
well  out  upon  the  barrier  bars,  far  from  the  sources  of  their 
component  elements,  where  the  winds,  rather  than  the  waves, 
have  been  the  dominant  factor  in  wearing  them  down  to  their 
small  grains  and  giving  these  grains  their  ground-glass  surface. 

I  conclude  therefore  that  this  specimen  represents  a  river  or 
stream  sand  deposited  either  in  an  old  river  channel  or  in  a 
lake  or  sea  in  close  proximity  to  a  stream  mouth.     There  is 


368  Appendix 

also  a  strong  possibility  that  this  sand  may  be  the  result  of 
erosion  of  the  cherty  limestones  of  Cretaceous  age  which  form 
such  a  large  bulk  of  the  plateau  to  the  eastward  of  the  Jordan 
and  Dead  Sea  valleys.  Some  of  the  largest  grains  are  of  milky 
quartz  but  their  identity  with  the  chert  of  the  Cretaceous  can- 
not be  demonstrated  at  present.  The  secondary  deposit  of 
silica  precludes  the  possibility  of  the  sandstone  from  which  the 
sample  was  obtained  being  of  recent  origin,  and  points  at  least 
to  a  Pliocene  or  older  Tertiary  age  for  the  beds. 

5374.  A  piece  of  peculiarly  mottled  purplish  sandstone  is 
illustrated  by  Figure  12  of  Plate  C.  This  rock  is  made  up 
of  lenticles  of  cream-colored  quartz  sand  varying  from  7  to 
16  mm.  in  length  and  2  to  5  mm.  in  thickness,  separated  by 
undulating  films  of  purplish  iron-stained  sand  about  1  to 
1.5  //////.  thick.  On  digestion  the  iron  stain  disappears,  there 
is  slight  effervescence,  and  a  cream-colored  slightly  coherent 
residue  remains.  This  readily  falls  under  pressure  into  sand, 
and  rock  flour.  The  sand  has  grains  of  0.1  to  0.5  mm.  and 
some  as  large  as  1.0  ;//;;/.  in  diameter,  and  forms  about  fifty- 
eight  per  cent,  of  the  mass.  The  fine  rock  flour  forms  about 
twelve  per  cent,  by  weight.  The  remaining  thirty  per  cent, 
probably  consisted  of  the  iron  and  calcareous  cement  with  a 
small  amount  of  fine  silt  lost  during  decantation.  The  small 
grains  are  all  sharply  angular,  the  larger  ones  are  rounded. 
All  the  grains  show  angular  nuclei,  and  a  coating  of  secondary 
silica  with  crystalline  facets  in  abundance.  A  considerable 
number  of  accessory  minerals  are  present,  all  in  minute  grains 
varying  from  0.1  to  0.3  mm  in  diameter,  and  all  of  these  have 
their  angles  worn.  Red  garnet,  a  dark  green  barely  trans- 
lucent mineral  which  may  be  pyroxene,  olivine,  zircon,  some 
magnetite,  and  minute  flakes  of  muscovite  were  recognized. 

The  peculiar  structure  of  the  sample  suggests  dune  rather  than 
subaqueous  origin.  The  presence  of  the  rock  flour,  the  small 
size  of  the  grains,  and  the  rounded  form  of  those  between  .5 
and  1.0  mm.  confirm  this  suggestion,  and  the  presence  of  the 
accessory  minerals  in  minute  grains  is  not  incompatible  with 
this  mode  of  dune  origin. 


Appendix  369 

5375.  A  hand  specimen  of  compact  fine  grained  brown  sand- 
stone has  its  grains  cemented  by  iron  and  silica.  Prolonged 
digestion  in  acid  failed  to  remove  the  brown  iron  stain  or 
cement  and  the  sample  could  not  be  broken  down  without  ex- 
treme crushing.  Accordingly  it  could  not  be  examined  by  the 
same  methods  adopted  for  loose  sands.  However,  microscopic 
examination  of  the  weathered  surface  shows  that  the  com- 
ponent quartz  grains  have  the  same  size  and  the  same  secon- 
darily deposited  quartz  as  described  under  No.  5373,  and  it  is 
probable  that  this  sample  represents  a  bed  of  the  latter  in 
which  the  secondary  silica  has  been  deposited  to  such  an  ex- 
tent as  to  render  the  rock  practically  a  compact  quartzite. 

Princeton  University,  April  4,  1905. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Lartet,  Louis.  1877.  Exploration  geologique  de  la  Mer 
Morte,  de  la  Palestine,  et  de  lTdumee,  etc.  4to,  pp. 
vi.-j~326,  14  pis.     Paris  [1877]. 

Lartet,  Louis.  1S72.  Essai  sur  la  geologie  de  la  Palestine  et 
des  contrees  avoisinantes  telles  que  l'Egypte  et  1' Arabic 
Deuxieme  partie.  Paleontologie.  (Annales  des  Sciences 
Geologiques,  vol.  iii.,  Art.  5,  98  pages,  pis.  9-12.      1872. 

Fraas,  Oscar.  1878.  Aus  dem  Orient.  Theil  II  Geologische 
Beobachtungen  am  Libanon.  8vo,  136  pages,  6  pis. 
Stuttgart,  1S78. 

Quenstedt,  F  A.  1858.  Der  Jura.  8vo,  2  vols.  Text 
842  pages;  Atlas,  103  pis. 

Quenstedt,  F.  A.  1883-88.  Die  Ammoniten  des  Schwabischen 
Jura.  3  vols,  text  (8vo);  3  vols,  atlas  (folio).  Stutt- 
gart, 1883-88. 

I — Der  Lias  (Schwarze  Jura),  1883-85. 
II — Der  Braune  Jura,  1886-87. 
Ill— Der  Weisse  Jura,  1887-88. 

Quenstedt,  F.  A.  1846-49.  Petrefactenkunde  Deutschlands 
Band  I,  Cephalopoden.  Text  (8vo),  580  pages;  Atlas 
(folio),  36  pis.      Tubingen,  1846-49. 

VOL.    II.  —  24. 


37" 


Appendix 


Roemer,  F.  1852.  Die  Kreidebildungen  von  Texas  und 
ihre  organischen  Einschliisse.  Folio,  100  pages,  11  pis. 
Bonn,  1852. 

Whitfield,  R.  P.  1891.  Observations  on  some  Cretaceous 
fossils  from  the  Beyrut  district  of  Syria  in  the  collection 
of  the  American  Museum  of  Natural  History,  with  de- 
scriptions of  some  new  species.  (Bull.  Amer.  Museum 
Nat.  Hist.,  vol.  iii.,  No.  2,  pp.  381-441;  pis.  iva.-xi. 
New  York  City,  1891. 

Conrad,  T.  A.  1852.  Description  of  the  Fossils  of  Syria, 
Collected  in  the  Palestine  Expedition.  (Lynch,  W.  F., 
Official  Report  of  the  U.  S.  Expedition  to  Explore  the 
Dead  Sea  and  the  River  Jordan.  4to,  Baltimore,  Md., 
1852,  pp.  209-235;   pis.  1-22  and  (appendix)  i-S. 

Hamlin,  Charles  E.  1884.  Results  of  an  examination  of 
Syrian  molluscan  fossils  chiefly  from  the  range  of  Mount 
Lebanon.  (Mem.  Mus.  Comp.  Zoology,  Harvard  College, 
vol.  x.,  No.  3,  4to,  68  pages,  6  plates.     Boston,  1884. 

Hill,  R.  T.,  and  T.  W.  Vaughan.  1898.  The  Lower  Cre- 
taceous Gryphaeas  of  the  Texas  region.  (Bull.  No.  151, 
U.  S.  Geol.  Survey,  8vo,  139  pp.,  35  pis.  Washington, 
1898. 

Fraas,  Oscar.  1877.  Turaschichten  am  Hermon.  (Neues 
Jahrb.   Min.,    Geol.  und  Paleont.,  vol.  1877,  pp.  17-30. 

Oppel,  A.  1860-65.  Paleontologische  Mittheilungen  aus  dem 
Museum  des  Baierischen  Staates.     Stuttgart,  1860-65. 


. 


• 


PLATE  A 

Slab  of  Senonian  ?  cherty  limestone  from  the 
vicinity  of  Kerak,  Syria,  carrying  an  abundance  of 
gastropod  shells.  The  majority  are  individuals  of 
Turritella  seetzeni  (D).  Others  are  A — B acuities 
asper;  B — Dentalium  hexagonum;  C — Venus  sp  f. 


Oh 


[i^gnal  ;  Hi 
.mm 


.ffiff! 


>I*ny>l  rri"il  vmrb 

.  nv  ubivibni 


PLATE  B 

Figure  i.  Slab  of  Kerak  chert  with  individuals  of 
Dentalium  hexagonum  (5362)  and  Turritella 
re)'i  (5357)-  Slightly  enlarged  ;  length  of  the 
longest  Dentalium  shell  is  35  mm. 

Figure  2.  Cross  section  of  Dentalium  hexagonum 
to  show  hexagonal  section  of  shell  during- 
neanic  stage.      Diameter  of  original  is  2.7  mm. 

Figure  3.  Slab  of  cherty  limestone  from  Kerak, 
bearing  gastropods,  pelecypods,  and  cephalo. 
pods.  5  356 —  Turritella  seetzeni;  535  7 —  Tur- 
ritella reyi ;  5358 — Natica  oricntalis;  5360 — 
Bulla  kerakensis;  5365 — Baculitesasper;  5367 
— Corbula  olives;  5368 — Area  sp  ? ;  5369 — 
Venus  sp?.  Length  of  the  central  numbered 
individual  of  Turritella  reyixs  15.5  mm. 


373 


Plate  B 


J  HTAjq 


■ 


.airna 


nol 


■ 
- 

\o  noij'jlqrri 
.  >>1  }o  Jifjfb  *i  nBJ 

1o    >bofd    }o    notion    neat 

ffio-it   4.;;.  nanibai 

■ 


)'\L 


jiH 


.mm  d 


PLATE  C 

Figure  i.  Aspidoceras  perarmatum.  Lateral  view 
of  specimen  No.  5336.  Longest  diameter  is 
42  mm.     Jurassic;   Mejdel  Shems,  Syria. 

Figures  2,  3.  Perisphinctes  convolutus  evexus. 
Lateral  view  and  three-quarter  view  of  speci- 
men No.  5337a  to  show  the  apertural  lappet 
scars.  Longest  diameter  is  26  mm.  Jurassic; 
Mejdel  Shems,  Syria. 

Figure  4.  Creniceras  renggeri.  Lateral  view  of 
specimen  No.  5338,  the  longest  diameter  of 
which  is  23  mm.  Jurassic ;  Mejdel  Shems, 
Syria. 

Figures  5,  6.  Melania  kerakensis.  Front  and  back 
views  of  two  specimens  of  No.  5363,  with 
lengths  of  about  8  mm.  Senonian  ?  cherty 
limestone  near  Kerak,  Syria. 

Figure  7.  Turritella  seetzeni.  Front  view  of  best 
specimen,  having  length  of  30  mm.  Senonian  ? 
chert  of  Kerak,  Syria. 

Figures  8,  9.  Sphenodiscus  f  sp  ?  Figure  8 — Adult 
specimen,  45  mm.  high,  showing  traces  of 
sutures  on  outermost  half  of  last  whorl. 
Figure  9 — Young  individual  of  same  species, 
with  height  of  7  mm.,  showing  form  of  sutures 
at  completion  of  second  convolution.  Senon- 
ian ?  chert  of  Kerak,  Syria. 

Figure  10.  Ceritkium  kerakense.  Apertural  view 
of  shell,  attached  to  surface  of  chert  block, 
having  length  of  9  mm.  Senonian  ?  chert  of 
Kerak,  Syria. 

Figure  11.  Baculites  asper.  Fragment,  18.3  mm. 
long,  of  neanic  stage  of  shell.  Senonian  ? 
chert  of  Kerak,  Syria. 

Figure  12.  Cross  section  of  block  of  "Nubian 
sandstone,"  specimen  No.  5374,  from  Petra, 
Syria.      Length  of  original  is  94  mm. 

Figure  1 3.  Scalaria  goiyi.  Back  view  of  shell 
imbedded  in  face  of  chert  block  of  Senonian  ? 
age  from  Kerak,  Syria.  Length  of  shell  is 
6  mm. 


375 


Plate  G 


INDEX 


Aaron's  Tomb,  ii.,  232,  241,  247 
Abadiyeh,  el,  i.,  137,  139 

Ford  at,  i.,  138 

Wely  at,  i.,  143 
Abel-beth-maachah,    i.,    83;   ii., 

5 
Ahsa,  el,  i.,  32;  11.,  278 
Ain  el  Aija,  ii.,  264 
Ain  el  Gelaidat,  ii.,  23 
Ain  Kadis,  ii.,  243 
Ajlun,  i.,  32,  158,  171 
Alexander   Sarcophagus,   i.,    53, 

Aqueduct  near  Gadara,  1.,  72 
Arbela,  i.,  173 
Arnon,  i.,  32 

Canyon,  i.,  297,  303 

Canyon,    half-way    down,    i.. 

3°5 
Valleys,  1.,  307,  309 
Aroer,  i..  300 
Artesian  wells,  i.,  56 
Authors,  i. ,  37 


B 


Banias,  i.,  86,  87,  97 

Source,  i.,  94 
Barometric  elevations,  ii.,  324 
Bedawin  changes  in  customs,  i... 

252 

Beirut,  view  of  city,  1.,  xi. 

Beit  er  Ras,  i.,  173 

Belka,  i.,  32 

Bet  miri,  i.,  3 

Biever,  Zephyrin,  i.,   127 

Blood  offerings,  ii.,  23 

Bozrah,  ii.,  20 

Bridge  of  Jacob's  Daughters,  i. 

"5 


Briinnow  and  Euting,  ii.,  37 
Burgon,  prize    poem,  Petra,  ii., 

Buseirah,  ii.,  20 


Caesarea  Philip  pi,  i,  86 

Camps,  elevations  of,  i.,  33 

Capitolias,  i.,  173 

Caravan,  i.,  29 

Circassians,  i.,  181,  204,  215,  242 


I) 


Damascus,  i.,  32,  167 

Dana,  ii.,  23 

Dead  Sea,  ii.,  2S0,  309 

Decapolis,  i.,  157,  166,  167 

Diban,  i.,  296 

Northern  portion,  i.,  289 
Southern  portion,  i.,  293 

Dibdiba,  ii.,  263 

Dion,  i.,  167 

Dispute  with  natives,  ii.,  149 


Earthquakes  along  eastern  pla- 
teau, i.,  113 
Edom,  i.,  32;  ii.,  59 
El  Abrash,  ii.,  273 
Elevations,  ii.,  324 
El  Husn  Ajlun,  i.,  174 
Elji,  ii.,  67 
En  Nakhaly,  ii.,  274 
Eshmun,  Temple  of,  i  ,  50,  51 


Fakhr  ed  Din,  i.,  68 
Fishermen  of  Galilee,  i.,  128 


577 


378 


Index 


Flint  bed  of  stream,  ii.,  n 
Flint  mountain,  ii.,  7 
Flint  strata,  ii.,  5,  11 
Ford,  Dr.  G.  A.,  i.,  56 
Ford  at  el  Abadiyeh,  i.,  138 

Hasbany,  i..  83 

in  Sea  of  Galilee,  i.,  128 
Formation  of  Jordan  Valley,  ii. 

251  . 
Fossils,  ii.,  353 


Gadara,  i.,  157,  159,  167,  171 
Western  Theatre,  i.,   163 

Ganneau,  Clermont,  i.,  278 

Galilee,  i.,  115 

Fishermen,  i.,  129 
Mouth  of  Jordan,  i.,  128 
(poem),  i.,  114 
Sea  of,  i.,  123 

Gerard  Institute,  i. ,  55 

Ghawarneh,  ii.,  280 

Ghor,  the,  ii.,  280 

Inhabitants  of,  ii.,  291 

Gilead,  i.,  232 

H 

Hasbany,  i.,  83 

Hauran,  i.,  32,  113 

Hebron,  ii.,  319 

Hedjaz  Railroad,  ii.,  325 

Hermon,  Mt.,  i.,  72,  95 

Hesban,  i.,  245 

Heshbon,  i.,  244 

Hieromax,  i.,  158 

High  Places,  ii.,  181 

Hill,  Gray,  ii.,  69 

Hippos,  i.,  167 

Horites,  ii.,  64 

Hoskins,  Mrs.,  i.,  8 

Hot    springs    near   Tiberias,   i. 

137 

Huleh,  i.,  90 

Hull,  Edward,  ii.,  69,  132 

I 

Ibex,  ii.,  227 
Idumea,  ii.,  62 
Irbid,  i.,  171,  173 


Jabbok,  i.,  32,  229 

Jaouneh,  i.,  120,  121 

Jaulan,  i.,  32,  105 

Jebel  Haroun,  ii.,  243,  247 

Jebel  Usdum,  ii.,  298,  309 

Jedeideh,  i.,  76 

Jerash,  i.,  167,  178,  182 

Arch  of  Triumph,  i.,  203,  225 
Bath,  i.,   193,  203 
Bridge,  i.,  189,  197 
Camp,  i.,  183 
Colonnade,  i.,  191,  195 
Columns  No.  1,  i.,  199 
Columns  No.  2,  i.,  201 
Effect  of  earthquake,  i.,   191, 

205 
From  south,  i.,  179 
Great  Temple,  i.,  192,  213 
Large  Theatre,  i.,  197,  217 
Naumachia,  i.,  203,  223 
Peribolos,   looking    north,   i., 

211 
Peribolos    looking     south,    i., 

192,  207 
Plan  of,  i.,  187 
Temple  of  Sun,  i,  197,  219 

Jessup,  Dr.  S.,  i.,  48 

Jewish  colonies,  i.,  83,  120 

Jezzin,  i.,  68 
Camp  at,  i.,  73 
Gorge  below,  i.,  69 

Jisr  Benat  Yakub,  i.,  115,  117 

Jordan,  i.,  137 

at  Sea  of  Galilee,  i.,  128 

Jordan  Plain,  i.,  147 

Jordan  Valley,  i.,  90,  142 
From  Gadara,  i.,  169 
Levels  in,  i.,  145,  150 

Jurajeery,  Butrus,  i.,  101 


Kaabineh  Arabs,  ii.,  278 
Kanatha,  i.,  167 
Kasr  Rabba,  i.,  317,  319 
Kerak,  i.,  132 ;  ii. ,  2 

Fossils  from,  ii.,  352 
Kerakol  Ras  Mujib,  i.,  316 
Khuri  Daud,  i.,  127 
Kitchener,  Lord,  ii.,  135,  292 
Kitchen  tent,  i.,  21 
Kuneitereh,  i.,  108 


Index 


379 


Laborde's  Plan  of  Petra,  ii.,  97 

Lebanon,  i.,  71 

Lebanon  Range  from  Brumana, 

i.,  9 
Litany,  gorge  of,  1.,  75,  77 
Littoral  plain,  i.,  66 


M 


Madeba,  i.,  260,  261 

Birket,  i.,  275 

Cave  dwellers,  i.,  283 

Cave  dwellings  west  of  town, 
i.,  279 

Greek  church,  i.,  265 

Greek  church  interior,  i.,  271 

Map,  i.,  265 

Mosaic  Map,  ii.,  328 
Meandering  of  Jordan,  i.,  142 
Merj  Aiyun,  i.,  83,  91 
Merom,  i.,  90 
Merrill,  S.,  i.,  78 
Metulleh,  i.,  83 

Milestones,  Roman,  i.,  309,  313 
Mill,  Roman,  ii.,  229 
Miller,  Miss  G.,  i.,  176 
Mkes,  i.,  158 
Moab,  i.,  248 
Moabite  Stone,  i.,  257 
Mons  Regalis,  ii.,  25 
Morass  south  of  Dead  Sea,  ii.,  297 
Mount  Hor,  ii.,  231,  237 
Mujib,  Arnon  Canyon,  i.,  297 


N 


Nabathean  inscriptions,  ii.,  179 

Nabatheans,  ii.,  62 

Nablous,  i.,  32 

Nasif  Beg  Meshaka,  i.,  5 

Naur,  i.,  291 

Nazim  Pasha,  i.,   5 

Necropolis,  Sidon,  i.,  58 

O 

Olin,  Stephen,  ii.,  125 
Order  of  permission,  i.,  39 
Outfit,  i.,  7 


Party,  i.,  13 

Pella,  i.,  167 

Petra,  ii.,  64,  144 

Amphitheatre,  ii.,  162 
Ancient  site,  ii.,  107 
Citadel  Rock,  ii.,  119,  152 
Columbarium,  ii.,   137,   155 
Corinthian  tomb,  ii.,  141,  157 
Deir,  the,  ii.,  208,  225 
First  view,  ii.,  38 
General  description,  ii.,   117 
General    view     of    valley    to 

south,  ii.,  10 1 
High  Place,  ii.,  172 
High  Place  altar,  ii.,  176 
High  Place  pillars,  ii.,  187 
Location,  ii.,  41 
Pharaoh's  Treasury,  ii.,  53,  75, 

82,  91,  94 
Plan  of,  ii.,  97 
Rainbow     Temple,     ii.,     156, 

193 
Road  to  High  Place,  11.,  167 
Road  to  the  Deir,  ii.,  213 
Rock  structure,  ii.,  43 
Second  High  Place,  ii.,  191 
Temple,  Kasr  Firaun,  ii.,  154 
Temple  on  east  wall,  ii.,  123, 

Travellers  to,  11.,  325 
Unfinished  tomb,  ii.,  133 
Western  gorge,  ii.,  205 
Western  wall  of  valley,  ii.,  105 
Philadelphia,  i.,   167 
Pipe,  clay,  water-,  ii.,  87 
Plateau,  character  of,  i.,  84,  108, 

113 

Elevation  of  Eastern,  1.,  33 
Subdivision  of  Eastern,  i.,  32 

Prayer  platform,  ii.,  21 

Preparatory  work,  i.,  1 


R 


Ramoth-Gilead,  i.,  171 
Remamin,  i.,  236,  237 
Reynald  de  Chatillon,  ii.,  t,^ 
Robinson,  E..  ii.,  122 
Rock  cutting,  ii.,  145,  168 
Roman  roads,  i.,  113,  158,  171; 
"■-  39.  J54 


38o 


Index 


Safed,  i.,  119 

Saleeby,  Dr.  Ibrahim,  i.,  241 

Salt,  i.,  171,  233,  240 

Sand,  analysis  of,  ii.,  366 

Schumacher,  The  Jaulcui,  i.,  106 

Scripture  references,  ii.,  350 

Scythopolis,  i.,  167 

Sebkha,  ii.,  298 

Sela,  ii.,  64 

Sellum,  Ibrahim,  funeral  of ,  i. ,  99 

Shobek,  ii.,  24 

From  East,  ii.,  25 

Valley,  ii.,  31 
Sidon,  i.,  40 

From  Hillaliyeh,  i.,  41 

Necropolis  of,  i.,  58 
Sik,  camp  at  entrance,  ii.,  43 

Above  entrance,  ii.,  47 

First  carvings,  ii.,  53 

Gorge,  ii.,  52,  71,  73 
Smith,  G.  A.,  i.,  28,  151,  165 
Springs,  i.,  84 
Stanley,  Dean,  ii.,  126,  136 
Stephens,  John,  ii.,  93,  122,  164, 

244 
Subeibeh,  i.,  87,  95 


Tabigha,  i.,  127 
Tafileh,  ii.,  15,  16,  268 

Afternoon  tea,  ii.,  21 

Fountain,  ii.,  21 

Prayer  platform,  ii.,  21 
Tell  el  Amarna  Tablets,  i.,  44 
Tent  interior,  i. ,  17 
Tiberias,  i.,  125,  13  > 

Hot  springs,  i.,  133 
Torrance,  Dr.,  i.,  132 
Transfiguration,    Mount    of,    i 
103 


Travellers  to  Petra,  ii.,  325 
Travelling  time,  ii.,  323 
Treasury,  Pharaoh's,  ii.,  53 
Trumbull,  H.  C,  ii.,  243 
Turcomans,  i.,  109 

U 

Ulleka,  i.,  109,  in 
Unsur,  ii.,  286 

V 

Via  Maris,  i.,  no 
Volcanic     surface     of     Eastern 
Plateau,  i.,  113 

W 

Wady  Mikhbar,  ii.,  304 

Musa,  ii.,  67 

Nijel,  ii.,  264 

Seir,  i.,  242 
Water,  carriers  at  Mujib,  i.,  313 

Collecting,  i.,  246 

Last  of,  in  Petra,  ii.,  95,  no 
Wilson,  Sir  C,  ii.,  244 
Wind  east  of  Dead  Sea,  ii.,  15 
Wood,  Mrs.  George,  i. ,  55 

Y 

Yarmuk,  i.,  32,  157 

Entrance  to  Valley,  i-,  147 


Zaweirah,  ii.,  310 
Zered,  ii.,  60 
Zerka,  i.,  229 


MAP 

OF 

PALESTINE 


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